Kriff That! (version 1 feat Sabezra)
by TheLoneRebels 2.0
Summary: *DISCONTINUED* An A.U. where Ursa & Tristan don't survive the Duchess and Sabine becomes Countess Wren. Devastated, she turns to Ezra for support and a long overdue romance blooms quickly. :P Lots of fluff, angst, action, and lemons (and some kinky ones).
1. In A New Light

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****Disclaimer: I don't own any Star Wars characters and any OC's that resemble real people are entirely coincidental. ****

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****There is an explanation of how my calendar works and a list of helpful translations for my commonly used Star Wars words in 'Flame of Hope - Everyone' if you're curious.****

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****It would be fairly safe to assume that all conversations between Mandalorians that don't include anyone else are taking place in Mando'a. I am simply not going to write it that way for two reasons: One, you would have to read everything twice unless you actually understood Mando'a. And two, Mando'a is an incomplete language and it looks ridiculous when written out and more than half the words are in English because there is no translation. ****

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****The first 4 chapters are version 2 of this story in my new writing style. The rest is the original which will mostly all show up in the new version eventually. ****

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****Kriff That!****

****In A New Light:****

__D 2/1 BBY, Mandalore__

The day Ezra Bridger saved her father was the day Sabine Wren realized that Ezra was more to her than just a friend. More than her best friend even.

And you know what did it? It was the absolute fear that overtook her as the transport went over the cliff. Sabine wasn't used to being terrified, as there was very little that scared her. But the thought of losing Ezra stopped her heart. Fear for her father was in there too, but Ezra had become her world, and she didn't know when.

Time slowed to a crawl. Her heartbeat became slow and distinct and pounded like a drum in her ears. Her breath stopped. The yell of, "Ezra!" from Kanan was almost inaudible through the white noise that overtook her. The distressed beep from Chopper also barely registered.

__Ezra! Shit. Shit. Shit. Don't do this to me. Come on. Come on. Fly up. Fly up. Why didn't I give him proper lessons with the jetpack like he asked? __

And then... Then a figure flew up and over the cliff just as the last of the three transports was going over the edge.

It was her father. She hadn't seen him in years, but she'd know him anywhere. __Daddy! Thank the Manda. __Sabine remembered to breathe again for half a moment as a temporary joy ripped through her for all of one second.

__But if Father is wearing the jetpack, that means Ezra is falling. Falling down hundreds of metres to a terrible death. Frag it all to hell and back. But he's a Jedi. He can do that gravity defying landing thing. But what if he's trapped in a transport? __

__Don't just stand there idiot. Go see. Go rescue him. It's not too late.__

Time was still moving one millisecond at a time when Sabine jumped off the ground and flew towards the cliff. __Thank the Force I have my own jetpack now. But I thought this thing went faster. Kriff. More speed. More speed.__ She passed Kanan, who'd already taken off at a sprint for the edge of the cliff. She passed Chopper, who was also flying towards the edge of the cliff.

A hand in a familiar green glove appeared over the edge and then promptly disappeared again. Her breath caught again. __EZRA!__ Sabine literally dove for it, throwing her body almost entirely over the edge and just managing to catch onto his hand at the last second before he wasn't within reach anymore. She didn't breathe until she had a good grip on his hand and helped to pull him up as his feet scrambled for purchase.

* * *

__"Ezra!" __Kanan's voice sounded loudly in the young Jedi's mind as he pushed off the second falling transport, Force leaping with everything he had for the third.

__"I'm a little busy right now," __Ezra thought back.

__"So you're not in trouble, then?" __Kanan asked, still sprinting.

Ezra pushed off the third transport, eyes pinned on the cliff face way above him. __"Technically yes, but I'm pretty sure I've got this."__

Kanan snorted mentally as he slowed to a jog, now seeing Sabine dive for his Padawan. __"I'm not sure if it qualifies as 'got this' when assistance is required, but I'll let that slide."__

Ezra mentally rolled his eyes at his Master and then focused on the girl who'd just saved his ass. __I knew she would show up in the nick of time. I can always count on Sabine. Always. __

"I was wondering where you were," Ezra quipped, pretending he hadn't had a total panic moment of his own. Somehow, his plan of running and jumping up the falling transports seemed a lot stupider in hindsight even if it did more or less work. But desperate times and all that.

Once they were both standing on the safety of solid ground, Sabine and Ezra stared at each other, both coming to the realization that he'd almost died. Panting for breath now, Sabine tossed her helmet off, pulled off Ezra's so she could see his face, and grabbed Ezra's shirt in her fists, pulling him right into her personal space. She narrowed her eyes at him fiercely. "Don't DO that to me, Ezra!" Sabine growl yelled as she stared into his absolutely stunning electric blue eyes that she'd been pretending for years weren't the most gorgeous eyes in the galaxy ever.

__You think I planned all that? __Ezra tried to shrug off the tension with a dorky half grin. "I couldn't let your father die, now could I? You'd murder me in my sleep."

__Never. But a good ass kicking is still an option. __Sabine's eyes narrowed further and a dangerous sounding growl escaped her, making Ezra's eyes widen in trepidation. She pulled him even closer by her grip on his shirt. Much to both of their surprise, Sabine pressed her mouth to his in a quick, hard kiss. As Ezra blinked at her in absolute shock, Sabine let go of his shirt like it was on fire. __Holy shit, what did I just do? __ "That's for saving my father." Then she punched him as hard as she could in the shoulder, almost knocking him right back off the edge of the cliff. "And that's for scaring me to death!" __Frag, frag, frag, I kissed him! I kissed Ezra. Why'd I do that? Escape. Before he sees me turning redder than a tomato. __

As Ezra regained his balance, barely even noticing the throbbing pain in his shoulder from her not so gentle punch, he watched her in speechless wonder as she bent down and grabbed her helmet, jamming it on her head and then flying off to the next cliff ledge above them. __Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming. She kissed me and she only ever kisses me in my dreams. But they're usually a lot sweeter or hotter than that. And dream Sabine doesn't punch me. I must be awake.__ He had the ridiculous urge to pinch himself anyway, to double check. __Force, I never thought this would actually happen. I don't even care that it wasn't a long kiss or even in a loving fashion, because it was real. __

And it was his first one. Ezra was going to treasure the memory of that forever.

He was still standing in the same spot, a cheesy grin on his face, staring up at where Sabine had disappeared when Kanan, Alrich, and Chopper joined him.

"So... Just friends, hmmm?" Alrich Wren said teasingly.

__Oh shit. I did just babble a bunch of bantha poodoo about us being just friends and that I wasn't WITH with her, didn't I? __Ezra turned to look at Sabine's father and he felt himself turning somewhat red. "That's what I thought, I swear."

Alrich and Kanan laughed at him. Even Chopper beeped out his version of laughter.

Ezra flushed darker. __Bury me. __

Kanan put a comforting arm across Ezra's shoulders. "Try not to overthink it too much or you'll give yourself a headache. Just let her figure herself out, and I'm pretty sure you'll like the results."

__Really? You're the expert, I guess. __Ezra looked up at his Master / father figure with a raised brow. "So you're cool with it if this actually turns into something?" Ezra asked tentatively.

Kanan shrugged. "Honestly, yes. I'd be a horrible hypocrite if I said otherwise. I AM married, after all. You might want to ask her father the same question though. He might have a different opinion."

__Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. __Ezra turned questioning, hopeful eyes back to Alrich. "ARE you okay with Sabine and I... umm. I don't even know what to call it. Dating? I guess? If that wasn't a fluke, that is."

Alrich pretended to look thoughtful, drawing out the suspense for as long as he could without cracking up. He'd only known this boy for maybe two minutes total and he'd already decided he liked him, Jedi or not. When the young man started to fiddle with the hem of his orange jacket and his expression of hope fell to something decidedly resigned, Alrich figured he better put him out of his misery.

__Force, he hates me. He's taking too long to answer. Mandos hate Jedi. I'm doomed. __Ezra looked up when he felt a hand that wasn't Kanan's grasp his shoulder and met the amber brown eyes that looked a lot like Sabine's. __Not as pretty on a man, that's for sure, __he thought distractedly, still waiting for a positive answer from the man.

"I'm fine with it, if that's what my daughter wants," Alrich reassured, squeezing the boy's shoulder gently. He grinned when the young Jedi's face lit up. "But... I can't speak for my Countess. She's a little more traditional, and I can't see her jumping for joy at the thought of a Jedi in the family."

Ezra went through a variety of emotions in only a couple of sentences. There was excitement at the prospect of maybe dating Sabine in more than his dreams. Then there was trepidation and maybe a little bit of fear at the prospect of dealing with Sabine's mother. __That was one seriously scary woman__. Then there was shock at Alrich suggesting he'd be a family member. As in... Marriage. __Holy nerfherders, I haven't even begun to think about that possibility with Sabine yet. I was still in the wishful thinking stage for a real kiss.__ The whole shebang with living together, and marriage, and KIDS was just beyond him right now. Then again, this was probably all wishful thinking and planning for naught. There was no way Sabine would ever change her mind about him and see him as something more than an annoying kid who might be her friend when she's in the right mood. The whole brief kiss thing was just her letting her emotions take over again and she'd regret it as soon as she thought about it. Her running away right after was proof of that.

Ezra smiled tightly at Alrich. "Yeah, well. I doubt the Countess will have to worry about that too much. Sabine will probably just brush it off as a heat of the moment thing and nothing will come of it."

Kanan clapped him on the back with a smile and a strong burst of confidence booster through their bond. "Don't be so quick to dismiss what I just saw as nothing. Sabine surprised me with that one. And I doubt you noticed, since you were kind of preoccupied with not falling to your death at the time, but she was terrified for you. It was very clear to feel in the Force. I think she might have feelings for you too." Ezra looked at Kanan with clear surprise and Kanan chuckled. "Don't give me that look. I've always known you liked her, as it's kind of hard not to notice your emotions through the bond."

Ezra scoffed lightly and called his helmet from the ground with an absent gesture of his hand, tucking it under his arm. __Like is an understatement. More like adore her very being. I'm so hopelessly gone on her my heart barely beats when we're apart. But no one needs to know that sad fact. __He squared his shoulders and faced Sabine's father and held out his free hand to shake. "Sorry, we've done this all backwards, sir," he said apologetically. "But I'm Ezra Bridger and this is my Master, Kanan Jarrus, and we're here to rescue you." Ezra managed to keep a straight face as the older men snorted in amusement at his deadpan humour.

Alrich shook the hand of the young man, liking him even more. "It's nice to meet you, Ezra Bridger.

Ezra and Alrich glanced up at the sky when Kanan (without even moving his masked head) said, "She's coming back. Pretend we weren't just talking about her if you value your life." He was only half joking.

The guys shared a commiserating look before Ezra put his helmet back on to hide his still confused emotions. Alrich shrugged out of Ezra's jetpack and handed it back to him with a, "Thank you, young Jedi. I owe you my life."

As Ezra shrugged into the heavy set of thrusters, he shrugged negligently. "It was nothing. Not succeeding wasn't an option. Sabine would ensure me a life of misery if I failed to rescue you. I had one job, after all."

Kanan barked out a laugh as Alrich Wren stared at Ezra with wide eyes for a moment. He too was laughing when Sabine landed in front of them, and Bo-Katan Kryze and Fenn Rau did the same but off to the side.

The men all sobered instantly.

* * *

Sabine was almost shaking as she flew away from Ezra. "What the kriffing hell was that?" she said to herself as she landed far out of sight from the others and kicked a rock in frustration, watching it bounce and skitter across the ground.

Somehow, Sabine had lost her mind and KISSED Ezra. It wasn't even a good kiss. It was a mashing of mouths for a second and a half that didn't really qualify as anything. But it was still a kiss, no matter how you looked at it. __I must have lost three quarters of my IQ to do something so incredibly stupid. And in front of Father no less.__

Sabine stomped across the ground and kicked another rock, finding immense satisfaction in how far it flew. "Di'kut, di'kut, di'kut," she muttered. She'd worked so hard to groom Ezra into a friends only category where everything was pretty much perfect between them. No awkward flirting. No expectations. It had been so easy to talk to him. Now she'd ruined everything. Ezra would get his hopes up again, and start looking at her with those big royal blue eyes like she was shabla perfect again.

Sabine didn't want him to think of her as perfect. She liked it the way it was. She liked that Ezra just saw her for who she was and didn't really judge her. She liked that they could count on each other for anything, as FRIENDS. She liked him as he was too. She liked how they could spend hours talking about everything and nothing. She liked how he had dedicated himself to being a Jedi and taking care of his family and the galaxy as best as he could. She liked him more every day, it seemed.

Sabine came to a dead halt and her eyes widened behind her helmet. __Bloody hell. I LIKE like him!__ __When had that happened?__ She hadn't seen him in months, but had missed him like crazy. Of course, Sabine had just written that off as not feeling like Krownest was her home anymore, so she was longing for people who did. Then he appeared in the Wren stronghold asking for help and her heart had skipped a beat or two to see him again, looking a fraction taller and more filled out, but she hadn't actually noticed that, not in the forefront of her mind. Now though, it was all she could think about as she replayed the scene on the edge of the cliff. She'd had to stand on her toes to kiss him, since he had no idea it was coming and hadn't bent down at all.

Ezra was growing up in more ways than one. And somewhere in the last few days, she'd noticed, at least subconsciously. He still cracked jokes, and couldn't seem to figure out a sense of decorum to save his life, but beneath that, he was definitely more mature in his attitude towards everything. There was a calmness to him now that reminded her more and more of how Kanan carried himself. __Which is not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. Hera sure hit the jackpot when she found that one. __

There had been a time when Sabine had had a crush on Kanan; he was so handsome and caring and wise. He wasn't too much terribly older than her either. Twelve years is not an insurmountable age difference. But he'd clearly belonged to Hera right from the start, so she'd never let her teenage crush go further than a few nighttime fantasies.

__I wonder when I stopped fantasising about Kanan? A couple years ago, maybe? My current imaginary lover is quite faceless right now. I wonder if that was my subconscious subtly not letting me pick another crush to dream about because it knew the person I really wanted was right in front of me as well, just not old enough yet to qualify? __

Sabine sighed as a new internal battle raged within her. What did she do about Ezra now? Because she needed to make a choice sooner than later. Mother had been hinting at finding her a husband, which had only filled Sabine with dread. But now, as she realized that perhaps Ezra might be the one for her, the thought of marrying him didn't make her want to run to the furthest possible planet away from him. That alone should have been enough of a deciding factor.

But it wasn't. Not just yet.

Sabine started pacing back and forth as her mind whirled. If she was going to choose Ezra, she needed to make sure it was one hundred percent what her heart wanted and not just a passing thing. Because once she picked a husband, there was no undoing it. Not for the rest of her life. And she couldn't play with him and then toss him away if it didn't feel right anymore. She couldn't do that to him. Sabine could never hurt him like that. Ever.

__Okay, that's a good first step. I can't hurt Ezra emotionally. That definitely means something.__ (Physically, she could still kick his ass if he deserved it or if they were sparring. That was a given.)

Could she picture herself living with Ezra for the rest of her life? She snorted to herself and smiled just a little as the quick answer of __YES! __flew through her mind. He might be goofy, messy, and occasionally annoying, but he was also incredibly sweet, kind, determined, humble (most of the time), strong (both physically and mentally), smart (when he tried), easy to talk to, great at listening, and (this was the hardest to admit) hotter than most movie stars. So yes, she could picture living with him for the rest of her life.

Next, (and she blushed to think it), could she actually picture herself kissing Ezra for real? __Yes.__ Could she picture herself touching him? __Yes.__ Could she picture herself in a bed with him, sleeping together and... other things? __Ooooo, yes! __Sabine bit her lip as a little thrill of desire shot through her as pictures formed in her mind. __I wonder what he looks like naked? I know his tushy is pretty much perfect and his package looks big enough under his shorts... Uhhhh… When did I check out his shorts? Stars, my subconscious has been doing all of this without me!__ Sabine flushed as her pulse thumped rapidly through her veins. She felt a little pervy for thinking all this, but then she remembered how Ezra used to check her out and all but beg for attention when he first met her. Guilt gone, a tooka-like smile crossed her lips.__I bet he has incredible stamina. Hera said Kanan could go for hours because of his connection to the Force. By the Mando, I want some of that. My toys can't possibly compare to the real thing. __

__Okay. Time for a new line of thought. Things are getting seriously overheated in my bodysuit. And I didn't even let myself think of Ezra as a desirable person until a minute ago, so maybe we should turn off the mental porno. __

Too bad her mind wasn't cooperating as a new image of a naked Ezra popped into her mind. He was poised over her and lavishing attention to her breasts. __Eep.__ And then her traitorous mind started imagining what he'd look like with his head buried between her legs. And then she started wondering what it would be like to kiss him with the taste of their desire on their tongues. And then she wondered if the very large imaginary phallus she gave him would feel different (hopefully better) from her favourite masturbatory aid.

Her now molten core pulsed with eager enthusiasm at exploring all of her ideas, making Sabine stumble slightly in her pacing.

"Argghh," she muttered and marched back to edge of the upper cliff. __I'm going to come in a puddle from my imagination alone. This is ridiculous. __ The only way to get these images to stop was to give herself something else real to think about. And thinking of her father was the biggest mood killer she could think of. So she flew back to where he was, standing with Ezra, Kanan, Chopper, and Bo-Katan and Fenn, who were just joining the little group.

Sabine landed in front of them and took off her helmet and addressed the man she hadn't seen for almost five years, very carefully not looking at Ezra or the front of his trousers. "Father."

Her apparently touch deprived female parts gave up clamouring for attention as soon as she was in the vicinity of more people, including the two father figures in her life.

__Excellent. __

But that didn't help the damp state of her undershorts.

__Oh well. __

* * *

Ezra watched the reunion between father and daughter with a smile in his heart and gracing his lips. __Force, she's gorgeous when she's talking about her art in that animated fashion. And she really is a lot like her father. Kind of like a blend between both her parents, actually. __ It was so good to see her reunited with him in a way that was almost the exact opposite of her reunion with her mother. __Ursa Wren really is a scary woman.__ Instead of threats and disapproval, there were hugs and teasing. Sabine just felt so happy in the Force in that moment. __I wish I could keep her in this happy state for the rest of our lives.__

Ezra exchanged pleased blind glances with Kanan, communicating through their bond how nice this was to see. Ezra closed his eyes and pictured the scene the way Kanan saw it, using his Force senses only.

Sabine and her father glowed warmly in the Force, contentment and joy radiating from both of them and reaching towards each other within their Force signatures in a way that told Ezra they used to have a very close bond once upon a time. Being separated from her father must have devastated Sabine greatly. At least everything was right again now.

Ezra took off his helmet and smiled at Sabine, letting her see how happy he was for her. She flicked a glance at him, and a tiny smile quirked her mouth in return in the midst of her banter with her father about her art skills. __Yay, she looked at me. She's not completely pissed off about the whole kissing and falling thing. __

Hoping to catch more of her attention, Ezra made some inane comment about now understanding where Sabine had gotten her artistic side from, and not expecting her father to be an artist too. __Definitely a good thing. __He'd been imagining Alrich as a warrior type who didn't want any boys to get within a hundred metres of his daughter and had been dreading the first meeting. Turns out he had nothing to worry about and easily liked the father better than the mother. Somehow, Sabine's warrior side just excited him, whereas her mother's warrior side (which was all of her, she had no other sides as far as he could tell), just flat out intimidated him. Which was pathetic, if you thought about it, considering he was a Jedi and could theoretically take care of himself against the Countess if she ever decided to kill him. But then again, he could never hurt Sabine's mother, because, well, she was Sabine's mother. __Annnnnddd that leaves me back where I started; petrified of Ursa Wren for various reasons. __

__Grow a pair, Ezra. Sabine will never respect you if you can't stand up to her mother.__

__Yeah. Yeah. I'm working on it, __he told himself.

Sabine, on the other hand, had so many sides to her that he adored. Besides her warrior personality (which she depended on more often than not), there was her artistic side, her playful side, her genius side, her (very) occasional girly side, and best of all, her caring side. She cared more than she let on. She cared what people thought. She cared about her family (both of them). She cared about people in need. She cared that the galaxy wasn't as perfect as it should be. He'd thought it a million times before, and he would continue to think it until the end of time; __Sabine is perfect.__

And there was nothing she could do to make him think otherwise.


	2. Thine Eyes Doth See

**Thine Eyes Doth See: **

And then the Duchess happened, and Ezra realized that Sabine wasn't perfect.

She was human. She made mistakes. She hurt. Actually, she was damn near broken after losing so many of her Clan. But she fought on, because that's who she was. Sabine wasn't a quitter.

It only made him love her more.

* * *

Sabine was genuinely happy as she talked with her father. It had been so LONG. And after the initial awkward moment, it was like they'd never been parted; teasing about art like old times.

Ezra, of course, had to get his own word in, but she didn't mind, not with how her father responded. And he was right. Mother really did love to destroy her enemies in the most creative ways. _Too bad I was one of them._

But they'd moved past that. After a few months of proving herself a worthy clan member again, Mother was actually starting to trust her once more. It was a good feeling, even if the Wren Stronghold didn't exactly feel as much like home as it should.

More than anything, Sabine had enjoyed spending time with her little brother again. _Little. Ha. That certainly doesn't apply anymore._ Tristan had grown a LOT while she was gone. She didn't remember her grandfather very well, but she did remember he'd been a massive man. Tristan was definitely taking after him, and at only seventeen, Tristan was nowhere near done growing and filling out. She could tell how proud Mother was of him. He was a dutiful son. He hadn't betrayed their people. He was a strong warrior.

He was pretty much perfect.

But Sabine couldn't resent Tristan. She never would. He should have been the eldest. He would have made a much better Count than she ever would. Sabine didn't know what she was going to do when her mother was ready to step down. For the time being, she was simply pretending that her mother would remain the Countess forever and not thinking about the day when she was supposed to take over the job.

Tomorrow, Sabine would think that Fate, or the Force, or whatever, must have been laughing at her the last time she'd told Mother that dealing with Clan business matters was not her problem and she wasn't ready yet to learn about them.

Her mother had insisted anyway.

She was ever the pragmatic one. And efficient. And ruthless. And right. _In that instance, anyway._

And she proved it once again as Sabine listened to her voice via Fenn's commlink, after he'd told the Countess that they'd rescued her husband.

**"Then we have two victories today. Saxon's forces are in retreat."** Sabine couldn't help but smile slightly at the sound of her mother's WESTARs in full voice as she pictured her chasing stormtroopers across the desolate landscape.

Tristan's voice came over the comm next a few seconds later. **"Hold on. They're not all running. Looks like we've got an incoming Imperial transport."**

"Reinforcements to cover their retreat?" Sabine asked, getting closer to Fenn so Tristan could hear her. _That was highly unusual. What has Saxon got hiding up his vambrace this time?_

**"They deployed a single scout walker. With no other support. It's moving into attack position,"** Tristan said, the confusion in his voice just as apparent as what Sabine was feeling.

Her mother scoffed. **"Laughable. Destroy it."**

And that was when Sabine heard it over the comm; the sound that haunted her nightmares and kept her up for hours afterwards with tears leaving frozen trails on her face.

The high pitched whine was the sound of her greatest mistake.

_Oh, no. No. No. NO. NO!_

"That sound. It can't be," Sabine said through a suddenly constricted throat. Heart hammering in panic, Sabine called, "Tristan, get out of there NOW!"

_Come on. Come on. Please. Don't do this to me. How did Saxon get the Duchess? _

When no one answered after a couple of seconds, she called again. "Mother? Tristan?"

_Why don't they answer? Surely they had enough time to fly away? But what if they're not wearing jetpacks? Oh stars. _

Sabine felt faint and nauseous. She barely swallowed back the bile that flooded her throat.

Ezra watched Sabine with growing concern. She'd paled to the colour of old snow and her emotions were screaming in the Force of pain and self-blame. _What's going on? _

A glow filled the sky in the distance, catching his attention. It was coming from the direction where the bulk of their forces were dealing with the majority of the Saxon and Imperial troops. _Oh Force. That can't be good._ "What is that?"

Sabine was literally shaking as she turned around and caught sight of what Ezra had seen. She'd seen that glow firsthand. She knew exactly what it meant. _And how I wish I didn't. _Crying out an anguished, "Nooooo!" she jammed her helmet on and took off for the distant battlefield which she already knew was probably now a graveyard.

Ezra followed after Sabine as fast as he could, thanking the Force that the jetpack had been returned to him before this had happened. He left behind him a frazzle of concerned emotions, but none more so than that of Sabine's father. _Kriff, I have a bad feeling about this. Really bad. _

Sabine flew with a whirling mind that eventually just went blank out of self preservation, her only focus; reaching the blast site. She landed a couple minutes later, seeing nothing but a couple of flaming transports and ashes on the ground with blackened pieces of beskar armour in heaps here and there.

This was exactly what she'd been afraid she'd see.

But it was even worse than what she'd imagined.

She tossed off her helmet and knelt by the nearest pile of blackened and flaking armour, her emotions in a state of devastated shock. "No, no," she cried as self loathing filled her. _I'm the worst daughter of Mandalore of all time. I wish the Empire had killed me all those years ago when I caught them testing the Duchess on real people. _

Ezra landed near Sabine, looking around the battlefield as a sense of extreme sorrow filled the Force around him. _This is awful. _

The scene was depressing as hell, but not as much as the sight of a small Mando girl kneeling in the crusted red dirt, shoulders slumped, and cheerfully coloured cream and purple head bowed. She was like a blotch of much needed colour in a world of devastation. Except he was sure she wouldn't appreciate the comparison at the moment.

As Ezra tentatively stepped towards her, he sent a little nudge towards Kanan, who was arriving on an air bike with Lord Wren, just wanting some reassurance that SOMETHING was still all right with his world. Kanan sent a sad little nudge back, both of them realizing that something truly awful had happened. "What happened here?" Ezra said aloud to anyone who cared to answer. He didn't think it would be Sabine, though.

It turned out no one had an answer, or if they did, they didn't voice it, for the question was left hanging in the strangely electrified air. Ezra's skin was nearly jumping with it.

He took another step towards Sabine, not sure what to do. He'd never seen her like this before. Not even when they were training with the Darksabre and he'd thought that was the most depressed he'd ever see her get. The pain she'd radiated then had nothing on the pain she was broadcasting now. Nothing.

Bo-Katan stepped up beside him. She too was feeling a lot of shock and pain that he couldn't miss unless he slammed his shields closed entirely. "Where are the survivors of this battle? The wounded? The victors?" she asked, just as confused as Ezra.

"I see only the defeated," came the resigned sounding voice of Alrich from behind him.

_I guess the victors booted it out of here already._

Sabine gave a strangled sob that shot straight to his heart. _Kriff. If no one else is going to comfort her, then I am. Or at least I'll try. _

Ezra stepped forward and his boot sent up a cloud of ash, drawing his eyes downward. He paused and frowned at the crispy metal before he understood what he was looking at. "Mandalorian armour? What could do this?"

"A weapon did this," Alrich said in that same resigned and defeated tone, walking up beside him, his previously proud bearing long gone. "A weapon created by my daughter."

_She would never. She loves her people too much to ever invent something that could harm them. Her father must be wrong. _

But as Ezra looked at him, at the sad slump to his shoulders, and then over the metre or so left between him and Sabine and saw the way she trembled in misery, he knew that Lord Wren told the truth; Sabine had invented a weapon that turned Mandos into crispy toast. _No wonder she was in such pain. It would be like me killing my own family with my lightsabre in my sleep or something. _Everything she said on Atollon a few months ago finally made sense. Now he knew why she never talked about how she'd come to be outcast from her home.

_Frag, no wonder she's beyond devastated. _

"There were rumours the Empire was working on a weapon to neutralize Mandalorian armour. That it had even been tested on our people. I didn't believe it." Bo-Katan's voice now said that she did. And the undercurrent of anger she was starting to feel was not a good thing. Not if it was going to be directed at Sabine.

Sabine finally spoke, her voice broken and torn. "Not the Empire. Me. This is all my fault."

_Frag. I can't leave her like this. She's self-destructing from the inside out. _Her signature felt nearly black with pain and self-loathing.

Ezra moved to kneel beside her, putting his helmet on the ground and touching her trembling back tentatively. Then he did his best to help her feel better, pulling as much of her sorrow from her as he could and into himself, then giving it to the Force. "Sabine, you can't blame yourself for this. Nothing involving the Empire could ever be your fault."

She turned to look at him with broken, tear filled eyes. "Everything my father said was true, Ezra. This is my work. I created the weapon that did this. And because of me, the Empire is going to turn my world into a graveyard. Because of me, Mandalorians are going to die. My mother and brother are dead, Ezra." She paused for a moment as she gulped on a sob and then croaked out, "Because of me." She gasped out another sob filled shudder of air before adding, "I'm vile."

_Oh, my poor warrior goddess. No you're not. And I'll always love you, no matter what._

He was very tempted to say it out loud, but fear of being rejected kept his mouth closed. But he couldn't leave her like this, so he offered physical comfort instead.

Hoping he wasn't overstepping their friendship, he did what Kanan had done for him when he found out for sure that his parents were gone; he opened his arms and pulled her against his chest and held her while she cried her heart out. Ezra brushed a hand over her flower coloured hair over and over and murmured nonsense soothing words as sobs wracked her small frame. _I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm sorry you lost your mom and brother. I wish I could bring them back for you. _

Ezra looked up as the others came to stand around them.

Kanan was sending as much comfort as he could to both of them through the Force, but he doubted Sabine was feeling it. Ezra was grateful for his efforts though.

Sabine's father had his own tears streaming down his face as he realized that he'd just lost his wife and son, who he hadn't seen in months as he was held captive by the Saxon traitors. Kanan put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, subtly helping him with his emotions the same way Ezra was with Sabine. Alrich gave him a look of gratitude just for being there, despite the fact that they were essentially strangers.

Fenn had his helmet on, so Ezra couldn't see his face, but he could feel sympathy in his emotions. _He's come a long way from when he hated Sabine and I. _

And Bo-Katan? She was building up into something that didn't bode well for Sabine. _Weren't there a few of her clan helping out with this mission as well? Karabast, they're probably dead too._ The Mandalorian woman was taking this loss personally as she realized the deadly implications for her people. Ezra was going to have to watch her. Kanan understood too, as his masked head turned towards her and a frown turned down his mouth, making deep grooves in his cheeks.

Chopper suddenly started beeping rapidly about picking up approaching comm signals and multiple biometric readings.

"Chopper's picked up something," Kanan explained for the benefit of anyone who didn't understand the astromech's antiquated form of binary.

"Survivors?" Bo-Katan asked hopefully, overriding her current anger for the moment.

"No. The Empire's coming back to finish the job," Fenn said as he looked to the sky, his voice filled with anger.

* * *

Sabine fell into Ezra's arms gratefully, needing to be held right now more than she ever had in her entire life. The pain of her past and its consequences was almost more than she could bear. But with Ezra holding her close, and his hands rubbing her soothingly, and his voice whispering that it was going to be okay, maybe not right now, but eventually, Sabine felt like she might just have enough fight left in her to keep going.

_Stars, I didn't know how much I need him in my life until now. Who else would hold me without judging? Who else would tell me that it's not my fault? Okay, maybe Hera and Kanan would too, but there isn't anyone else's arms I'd rather be in. _

_You could stop crying any time now; his jacket is getting drenched. _

_You're going to be all blotchy._

_I doubt Ezra would care. You're finally in his arms where he's hinted for years that he wants you._

_And we're not being shot at at the same time. What a concept._

She sniffed, trying to get some of the excess fluids to clear away from her nasal passages so she could breath properly again.

_By the Mando, he feels nice. And he smells good. Really good. Who knew essence of human male sweat and dirt could be so attractive? Maybe it's just Ezra. I'm all right with that. _

Her tears were finally starting to dry up as she distracted herself with much nicer thoughts than what had made her start weeping like a leaky watering pot in the first place when Chopper started beeping. She was wiping her face on a dry spot on Ezra's jacket when Fenn said the Empire was coming back.

_I guess I spoke too soon about the not getting shot at thing. Figures._

"Sabine," Ezra said gently. "I know this sucks but..."

She cut him off as she looked up at him and determination filled her, replacing the empty space in her chest. "I know. And they're going to pay." She touched his cheek for one brief second, suddenly so thankful that he was back in her life. Then she stood, drawing the Darksabre from the back of her belt and glaring at the approaching figures flying in on Mandalorian jetpacks but wearing Imperial marked armour. The ancient black lightsabre gave a satisfying snap hiss as she ignited it, reflecting her mood perfectly. Ezra's lightsabre made a gentler hum as he turned his on as well, but its song was a perfect accompaniment to her own weapon as they readied for battle. (Just like their real life partnership.)

Her eyes narrowed in disgust at the approaching enemy, the red Imperial emblems on their white uniforms an instant trigger for her as memories of Gar Saxon invading the Krownest stronghold flashed through her mind.

_More traitors!_

Sabine growled in rage and flew up towards the nearest one, taking the man out with a body check in the sky and forcing him to the ground. She sliced the blaster he pointed at her in half and then cut off his head, all her sympathy for the life of another being completely gone at the moment, letting her rage at herself translate to others more loathsome than her. _At least I left the Empire when I realized what a hypocritical, backstabbing, controlling entity it was. These traitors to the Mandalorian way of life deserve whatever they get. _

_Death is too good for them. But they'll die anyway. _

Her breath stuttered as a realization too hold.

_Death is too good for me, too. I have to make things right again. I deserve to live with what I've done. _

With one Super Commando taken care of, and resolution in her heart, Sabine looked for another target. Spotting one creeping up on Ezra as he protected her father, Sabine drew a blaster in less than an instant with her free hand and shot him in the small space between his shoulder armour and his helmet, not taking the chance that his armour would stop the shot.

And then she moved on, her sole focus the annihilation of every single traitor to her people, wishing it would also make her feel better about her own betrayal of them. In the little corner of her mind that she'd shoved her emotions to so she could focus, that still whimpered in pain, she knew it wouldn't.

* * *

Ezra was trying to get Alrich out of the kill zone, the man having nothing in the way of armour or weapons to defend himself. He was determined that Sabine was not going to lose her last parent. _Not on my watch._

They'd almost made it to the speeder bike when three TIEs joined the fray and one of them shot the bike, exploding it right in his face.

_Fraaaagggggg! _

_Flying!_

_Crashing! _

_Ow. Ugh. That one hurt. Landing on a jetpack is not recommended. Why am I wearing this thing again?_

Ezra dragged himself up off the ground and looked for Alrich. He was just sitting up only a metre away and looking a little dazed, but otherwise unhurt. Ezra was really really happy he'd taken the time to put his helmet back on before going on the defensive, because he'd be in bad shape right now without it. As is, he felt a few places on his body that throbbed from being struck by shrapnel but at least he didn't appear to be bleeding anywhere. _This would have been a good time to be covered in armour._

Pushing aside the pain to the back of his mind, he helped Alrich to his feet, who also looked okay, if a little less well groomed. "Are you okay?"

The older man nodded slowly. "You?"

"Better than the bike," he replied, forcing his tone into something resembling joking. With that came a little warning in the Force and Ezra stuck his green lightsabre out, blocking the shot that would have taken Alrich out and deflecting it right back to the shooter. The Imperial Mando fell with a scream and a burnt hole in his chest armour. _Ugh. I'm clearly not on my game. That is not the arm I aimed for. Sorry, man. We'll just pretend I did that on purpose, shall we? Mando father to impress, after all. _Turning his helmeted head to the older man, he calmly said, "Right. I guess we're not going to get you out of here so let's try for some cover by that transport over there."

Alrich nodded, wide eyed. He was more impressed with Sabine's young Jedi the longer he knew him.

"Stay right behind me," Ezra instructed as he started moving, taking in the situation as he went.

Ezra scanned the battlefield, searching for Kanan, relieved to see him having what looked like a blast with a couple of flyers as he jumped up on them and took out their jetpacks and then landed lightly on the ground again as they fell like rocks and didn't get up again. _Force, he's good at jumping. I really need to work on that some more. _

Sabine was still on the warpath, the bright white and purple of her hair easy to spot. He wished she had put her helmet on first, but there was no time now to get it for her. It didn't look like he'd get her to stop long enough to do it herself, either. _Stubborn, focused, warrior girl. Stars, she's hot when she's in warrior mode. _

Ezra winced as the Darksabre removed another man's head from his shoulders.

_But, geez, she could cool it with the brutal kills. I thought she was past her old need to kill everything in sight. I guess she's in revenge mode right now. Best to just let her work through it if I want to keep my own head attached. _

Fenn and Bo-Katan were fighting on the ground in hand to hand combats with their own opponents, and Chopper had picked up a fallen blaster and was taking pot shots at anything that moved in white armour while cackling madly. _Gotta love that droid._

"Lady Kryze!" Ezra yelled across the way, hoping to get her attention. They could really use a pick up right now. _Where's Hera when you need her? _Ezra doubted they'd last long enough to send Chopper back to camp to get his Gauntlet. It was too far away. Chopper probably didn't have enough fuel left to make it anyway. And the Imps where bound to send more TIEs sooner or later. They were lucky there were only three of them so far.

"Lady Kryze!"

She still didn't hear him. She was a little occupied at the moment anyway, kicking the shit out of a man nearly twice her weight. _Impressive. Must have gone to the same School of Ass Kicking that Sabine went to. _

They were winning the ground battle easily, but the TIEs were a concern as they circled overhead and blasted at them from above. _And there's no kriffing cover left out here._ The TIEs had already blown up the remaining transports to bits every time Ezra and Alrich came near one. Ezra concentrated on tracking their shots and continued to protect Alrich, eyes everywhere and his Force senses wide open in search of danger. He literally spun circles around the man, deflecting laser blasts left and right, ignoring the heavy weight of the jetpack on his shoulders. _Is it just me or are they aiming for Lord Wren on purpose? Even the flyers had been particularly interested in taking him out before their numbers were wheedled down and now they had better things to focus on. _

_Like not getting beheaded by a raging Mando girl in colourful armour._

* * *

By the time most of the flying Mandos wearing Imperial white were either dead or moaning on the ground, a Gauntlet ship in Kryze colours came screaming through the sky, guns blazing, taking out a TIE, before landing close to Bo-Katan and lowering the ramp. Ezra couldn't have been happier to see it. _Lady Kryze must have found some time to call for help without any prompting from me. Thank frag. _

"Come on!" Fenn yelled at everyone on their side.

Everyone did.

Except Sabine. Of course.

She seemed rather determined to take out every last one of the enemy.

Ezra was about to go get her, but Kanan beat him to it, Force jumping to her in an instant and grabbing her arm and talking some sense into her. Ezra watched in relief from the top of the ramp as Sabine gave up fighting and ran towards them instead, scooping up her helmet on the way by. _Well, you know she's not too out of it if she remembered her precious helmet. Thank the stars. Hopefully she calms down now. _

As Kanan and Sabine ran up the ramp, it started to close and the ship took off again.

Alrich immediately gathered Sabine into his arms as soon as she was within the ship. Ezra's chest hurt for them as they remembered their shared grief again. "I'm so sorry, Father," he heard her say softly.

Alrich kissed the top of her head and hugged her tighter. "This wasn't your fault," he replied.

"But..."

"It wasn't," Alrich insisted, and Sabine kind of sagged a little in his arms as she understood that her father didn't blame her, hiding her face deeper in his shoulder.

_That's good, she needed that. _

Kanan stood beside Ezra, his hand on his shoulder. They didn't need words between them. They could feel the other's emotions more than well enough. Just being together was plenty.

Ezra wished that had been the end of it, but it wasn't. They were still being pursued by the last two TIEs. Everyone could feel it as shots rocked the shields.

And then the shields gave up and a shot hit something important. Ezra heard it as the sound of the engines changed to something not so healthy. Sabine ran off to fix the ship as one of Lady Kryze's clan mates called over the ship comm that they were losing power and the weapons were down.

Ezra moved to follow her, eager to help anyway he could, but an unexpected hand held him back by his jetpack, making him jerk backwards. He watched Sabine go with his heart in his eyes, thankful his helmet was hiding them at the moment, before turning his focus to the older Mandalorian woman. "What?"

Bo-Katan pulled him with her as she hit a button and the cargo bay door opened in the floor. "Come on, kid," she said to him with a jerk of her helmeted head.

"Where are you going?" Ezra asked with hidden wide eyes.

"A Mandalorian with a jetpack IS a weapon," she stated, and then dove out the opening and into the sky.

"I'm not a Mandalorian!" he called after her indignantly, even though there was no way she could hear him anymore, her figure already just a speck in the sky.

Kanan laughed behind him. "Just go. Do what you can. Call it an exercise in learning new cultures on the fly."

Ezra turned his head and glared at his Master as Kanan cracked up with chuckles at his own joke, inspiring a smile from the morose Lord Wren. "Very funny."

Kanan sent him an encouraging nudge through their bond, too busy snorting with laughter to respond out loud.

Ezra grunted and toed up to the edge and looked out at the clouds whipping past. "I don't want to be a Mandalorian," he grumbled to himself. _Mandos are nuts. Even my precious Sabine. B__ut I know better than to tell her that I thought that. Good thing I love her form of crazy._ Shaking his head at his own insanity, Ezra jumped out of the ship as well.

At least he was finally getting the hang of flying in a jetpack. Sort of.

Ezra flew towards the second TIE, since Bo-Katan was in pursuit of the first. As the first TIE swept past him, the turbulence knocked him off balance and he ended up floundering through the clouds like an ungainly newborn nerf.

The Kryze Countess flew past next, shaking her helmeted head at him as he wobbled through the sky.

Ezra groaned. _Way to make an impression, Bridger._

Then he compounded it by completely misjudging how fast the second TIE and he would meet.

Splat!

_That was not how I planned this, I swear._

Ezra hit his intended target right on the window, and felt rather like a bug. It brought back to mind the time he'd fallen off the top of the Ghost about four years ago and slid down the window while waving at Sabine (who was sketching in the nose gun chair) like an absolute idiot. _Ah. Those were the days. Not._

The pilot of the TIE was certainly surprised at his unexpected passenger. Ezra had the absurd urge to wave at him as well, but he got over it and scrambled up and over the top of the TIE, intending to pull the hatch open and pull the pilot out with the Force.

Of course, that plan went out the window too when the wind pushed him right off the TIE and he was left behind, once again flipping heels over ears in the sky. _Thank the Force Sabine isn't watching this, because I still feel like an absolute moron in this jetpack._

Ezra got himself facing the right away again and took off after the TIE at the same time that he saw the one Bo-Katan had targeted blow up. Going for plan B, Ezra activated the rocket launcher thing built into his jet pack and sent it at his target, using the Force just a little to make sure it actually hit the target. (It would be terrible if he hit Bo-Katan's ship instead.) _I would never live that down. Never. _

Smiling inside his helmet as the TIE blew, grateful he'd accomplished something useful for once, Ezra caught up to a waiting warrior Countess and they chased after her ship and flew back in. (Its failing power was actually a good thing, or they'd never have been able to catch up.)

Bo-Katan closed the cargo door and Ezra pulled his helmet off, blood thrumming through his veins and tingling from head to toe from the adrenaline rush. "Well, that was interesting."

She took her helmet off too and kind of smiled at him, her lips twitching more with humour than anything. "Not bad, for a rookie."

Ezra took that as high praise and grinned.

Sabine appeared in the cargo area, smiling widely at Ezra, and grabbed his hand as she led him into the main part of the ship through a few hallways that had pretty much the same layout as his own Gauntlet. "Look at you, taking out a TIE with a jetpack. I told you you'd get used to flying that," she teased as they walked, ignoring the red haired woman who trailed behind, chortling quietly at Sabine's words.

Ezra felt his heart pound a little as her fingers laced through his. He covered up his joy with a casual shrug. "Well, I'm not completely hopeless." _Only most of the time. And most especially when you're around to see me mess up._

Sabine squeezed his fingers and bumped his shoulder with hers gently. "No, Ez'ika. You're not." She watched colour flush his cheeks darker and his eyes fell on her and stayed there. He nearly walked into a bulkhead without even noticing. _Man, he's cute. Why did I deliberately ignore that for so long? _She drew them to a stop before he injured himself.

Ezra's breath caught at the endearment, and he gulped. _She called me Ez'ika! Oh. My. Force. That's big. That's really big! That's practically engaged big! Is the hallway spinning? Oh, right, breathing is recommended. _

_Breathe, Bridger!_

His open mouth finally gasped in a lungful of necessary oxygen and the shimmery silver walls settled back to stillness.

Her beautiful eyes were warm but serious now as she looked up at him, an emotion shining through that Ezra was afraid to name. He went to raise his free hand to touch her cheek reverently but the helmet tucked under his elbow made itself known, so he settled on just smiling softly, letting his eyes say what his heart was feeling. "Thank you, cyar'ika." (He'd learned the Mando'a endearments on the holonet long ago, within a week of meeting her, and he'd never forgotten them. How could he? When Sabine was there every day, reminding him how much he wished they were more than friends?)

Sabine's eyes widened when he returned her endearment with an appropriate one. _When did he learn that? Can he get any sweeter? I definitely made the right decision to pursue this. _She all but purred her approval as she moved closer to him, tipping her chin up further to keep her eyes on his beautiful sapphire blue ones as her chestplate touched the zipper of his jacket. _Give me more love names and I'll give you everything. _

Ezra was flabbergasted but ecstatic by her proximity. _Close. Close. Close. Breathe. Control. Don't get too excited or she's definitely going to notice that Little Ezra has a mind of his own with how close she is. Oh, stars. She's even more beautiful this close. There's about a hundred different shades of gold and brown in her eyes. Should I kiss her? She looks like she wants me to kiss her. I think I might be dreaming again. But it feels real. Her fingers are squeezing mine and I can feel every breath she takes via her chest. That's touching mine. Oh Force. _

Somewhere in the last hour, everything had changed. Sabine had come to some sort of decision in her mind and she was making it very clear with her actions and words that she was ready to move beyond friendship. Ezra couldn't have been much happier. (Sabine's family still being alive would have made it perfect.)

Now, if only he could stop panicking and act like having a girl pressed up against him wasn't the most exciting thing to happen to him, like, ever.

"Sooooo," a voice drawled, making Ezra nearly jump out of his skin and Sabine take a step back. _No, don't leave me! _every cell in his body whimpered.

Ezra shushed them, gawking at the Mandalorian artist, who was leaning against the open doorway into the common room, arms crossed over his chest, and amber eyes twinkling at them. _How did I forget that we weren't alone? _

"I take it the two of you are going to make this official sooner or later?" Sabine's father continued in his dry drawl.

As Ezra and Sabine flushed in embarrassment at being caught making eyes at each other, Bo-Katan snorted from the other direction and Kanan appeared behind Alrich's shoulder, grinning at Ezra.

Ezra seriously considered plopping his helmet back on his head so he could blush like a ripe tomato in private.


	3. My Heart is Yours

**My Heart is Yours: **

Sabine dropped Ezra's hand as she turned and faced her father with heat rapidly rising to her face. "Father!" _Shit, he'd seen her practically throw herself at Ezra twice now. What must he think of her?_ "I was just… um…"

"Checking for signs of the Karatos Plague in Ezra's eyes?" Kanan provided helpfully, all but laughing his ass off at her if that grin was anything to go by.

Sabine nearly growled at him. "Not helping, Kanan."

The masked Jedi Knight simply shrugged unapologetically.

_Nerfherder._

"Relax, Sabine. I've already given your young Jedi my stamp of approval," Alrich reassured, pushing himself off the doorframe he was leaning on.

"Oh. You did? That's… good." _When did Ezra have time to win over Father? Then again, who doesn't Ezra win over? He's literally one of the most liked people in the galaxy. Even the scum of the universe likes him. (Cough, cough, Hondo, cough.) _

"The rest of the clan, on the other hand…"

"I know, Father. They're not exactly going to break out the good whiskey to celebrate my choice." _More like dump Ezra in the lake and then eject him into space and laugh as he fractures into a million pieces. Or maybe that's what they'll do to me after they find out about Mother and Tristan. _She sighed dejectedly as she walked up to her father and joined him as they moved into the common room. Eyeballing a couch that looked mighty comfy right now, wishing she could take a ten year nap, Sabine continued with, "Between that and the resurfacing of that weapon I wish I never invented, I'll be lucky if all of Mandalore doesn't eviscerate me." She huffed out another mournful sigh, aiming for the couch. A ten year nap might not be possible right now, but she was hoping for at least a ten minute sit. _Preferably with Ezra beside me. _

She never made it to the couch.

* * *

Ezra managed to cool off his face by focusing on Kanan's comment, brows rising in curiosity. _What's the Karatos Plague?_

_Kanan sure is enjoying this whole thing. I wonder how long he's been waiting to be able to tease Sabine and I about our love lives like we tease him about his? Did he anticipate that we'd be together, though? I sure didn't. I was so worried Sabine would fall for some buff Mando guy while we were apart. _

_Someone her clan would approve of._

Ezra sighed as he listened to Sabine and her father discuss the consequences of her getting together with him. _This doesn't sound like a good idea for her at all. Maybe I should back off now before things go any further. I don't want to hurt her standing with her clan any further. With her mother gone, doesn't that mean that she's the Countess now? Or does her father take over? _

_I have no idea. Sabine is always so reluctant to talk about her culture and her past. _

He followed Sabine as she moved into the common room with her father, but stopped beside Kanan, just inside the doorway.

"Hey, what's the Karatos Plague?" Ezra whispered to his Master, keeping half an eye on Sabine as she walked towards the far side of the room and a rather comfy looking grey leather couch.

Ezra backed up a step to let a frowning Lady Kryze pass him as Kanan replied with, "Originates from Concord Dawn." _Fenn's broken planet. Lovely place. _"Causes blindness in forty minutes and death in sixty."

"Wow."

"Yep."

"Fenn mentioned it…" Kanan's words sputtered out as his head whipped to the side, prompting Ezra to look fully towards Sabine.

What he saw had him tensing in an instant and dropping his helmet.

* * *

In the adrenaline rush of winning a fight, Bo had let herself forget for a moment that she was seriously peeved with one Sabine Wren. The girl's teasing of her adorably young and somewhat inept Jedi lover had been amusing, but when Bo heard her mention that weapon that had just obliterated three of her clan members, including her beloved nephew, Korkie, Bo's fuse was lit once again.

Setting her helmet down on a table, Bo rushed the traitorous girl who should still be known as dar'manda. _Ursa is… was… too forgiving._

The hairs on the back of Sabine's neck rose in warning just as she felt herself attacked from behind, her helmet flying out from under her arm. She had no time to react as Bo-Katan shoved her up against a wall face first and held the blade in her vambrace to her throat, breaking the skin. _Ow. Haar'chak, I should have seen this coming._

The Countess of Clan Kryze growled at her as she shoved her harder. "You're a Mandalorian! Why would you create such an abomination? That THING is the weapon of a coward."

There was another clatter on the floor, like a second helmet being dropped, followed by the sudden easing of the pressure. Sabine turned around to find Bo-Katan had been pulled back by Ezra. With the Force. His face was a study of concentration and anger as he held the woman in an invisible hold and she struggled in his grip. Bo-Katan stopped moving after a moment as she realized fighting was futile. _Go, Ezra. _

"No blades," Ezra growled. He didn't mind the girls having it out, as he sensed this was something that needed to be cleared up, but he wasn't going to watch Sabine bleed. Kanan had almost stopped him, as he sensed what Ezra was going to do, but then thought better of it, and didn't interfere. He realized Sabine was Ezra's to take care of, now more than ever. _Even if it's just as a friend, for her own good._

The thought of giving up the dream of having Sabine as his own was gut wrenching and made him feel sick, but Ezra would do it for her long-term happiness. She couldn't possibly be happy with him if her people hated her for it, no matter what she said.

Ezra walked around the furious redhead, holding her still with one hand held up, and came to stand beside Sabine, but kept his eyes pined to the Mandalorian leader. "If you promise to play nice, I'll let you go."

Bo-Katan's green eyes blazed murder, but she nodded stiffly. _This is why Mandos hate Force users. How can you fight something you can't see or feel or hear?_

Ezra glanced at Kanan, sending him a clear thought. "_Can I trust her?"_

Kanan frowned for a few seconds, studying her Force signature carefully before he nodded slightly.

Ezra let her go. _Hope I don't regret this._

Bo-Katan took a deep breath and visibly calmed herself down. She turned her attention back to Sabine. "Why?" Just one word, but the hurt and pain in her voice was readily apparent.

Sabine sighed and consciously squared her shoulders to appear stronger than she felt, grateful for Ezra's comforting presence beside her. She was careful to keep her eyes locked with Bo-Katan's; she needed her to see her remorse. "I was young. It was a challenge. And I was arrogant. But when I realized the Empire tested it, and actually planned to use it, I sabotaged the prototype and destroyed the plans. Blew up a good chunk of the Academy in the process. I thought that was the end of it, I swear to you." _Please believe me._

_I think I remember that. The Empire called it a terrorist bombing. _"Then how is it back?" Bo-Katan accused. "How come a dozen of your Clan and a few of mine are literally blowing in the wind? My nephew was there. Who's going to tell his wife and children that their father isn't coming home?"

_Oh, stars! Not Uncle Korkie! Everyone loved Korkie. He used to play with me when I was little. He was the perfect blend of protective older brother and fun uncle. In terms of politics, the only worse person to have died would be Bo-Katan herself. _

Ezra frowned in concern as Sabine went deathly pale and she shook her head hopelessly. _Kriff, she's breaking again. Need to help her. How… Touch helped her before. I can do that. _

Sabine's lower lip trembled as she stared at Bo-Katan with stinging eyes. "I'm sorry! I don't know how they brought it back. I destroyed it, I swear," she finished in a whisper, wishing for oblivion to free her from her mistakes. But then she felt Ezra lace his fingers with hers and Sabine found the courage to stand straighter again and face up to her past. _He's like a shot of positive energy to the heart. I could get used to that. It might even be addictive. _She took in a steadying breath. "But I promise I won't rest until I make it right again. This is my mess and I'm going to fix it."

"Not by yourself," Ezra said. "I'm with you to the end."

Sabine looked up at him and almost got lost in the sincerity and commitment she found in the blue depths of his eyes. She squeezed his fingers appreciatively. "Thank you, Ezra."

"I'm with you too," Kanan said firmly, quickly followed by Chopper's beep of support.

"As am I," added Fenn, who'd walked into the room at some point during the dramatics. "I promised I would follow you, back on Atollon, and I meant it."

"I will always support you, Daughter," Alrich added.

Sabine smiled a shaky smile at everyone in turn as they lent their support, and then she turned questioning eyes back to Bo-Katan, seeing the conflicted look on her face. _And you?_

Bo sighed. "I suppose I am as well. You do deserve the right to make things as right as you can, but this doesn't mean I won't forget what you've done." She turned and swiftly stalked off to the door that led to the cockpit, shoulders stiff.

The room as a whole kind of exhaled in relief that things were settled for the moment.

_Damn, I hope I don't let her down, _Sabine thought as she sagged back against the wall and a little to the left so she was leaning on Ezra too. He squeezed her fingers in sympathy and her she relaxed another fraction. _Thank you, Ezra. Kriff, I missed having you by my side these last few months. _In an unprecedented move for her, she relaxed even further and let her head tilt sideways and up, so she was resting on the hard muscle of his upper arm but she could still see his face, getting drawn into the fathomless blue of his eyes and letting the rest of the world melt away.

Ezra looked down at her, smiling softly, sensing her emotions settling back into contentment. Having her lean on him a little meant a lot to him since it was something she rarely let herself do. There'd be the odd occasion where they were on the couch, watching a holomovie or whatever, and she'd use his as shoulder as a backrest, but this was the first time her head had made contact with his arm. He was in awe of the vulnerability she was showing him (and everyone else in the room) right now. To show his appreciation he subtly stroked his thumb over hers, heart stuttering a little when he heard her breath catch. _Oh, stars. She's really responsive. _

Little Ezra thought that was a very interesting observation and twitched with the first stirrings of life.

_Down boy, her father is in the room. Not to mention Kanan and Fenn. _The dose of reality was an instant mood killer, thankfully. But even having the other three men talking quietly about who-knew-what on the other side of the room wasn't enough to stop Ezra from drinking in Sabine's beautiful features as she gazed up at him with big, trusting eyes. _Force, I missed you. Please let me be in your life more. Even if it's just as a friend. Surely your clan wouldn't object too much if I came to visit you every couple of weeks? _

As usual, the words were trapped in his throat. He was so afraid of hearing a negative response that it seemed better to just let things be as they were for the moment.

The sensation of having her fingers laced with his while he stroked his thumb gently over hers was doing funny things to Sabine's heartbeat and sending tingly little flutters of awareness through her... and they were both wearing gloves. She couldn't imagine how much better it would be without them, because even though hers were fingerless, she still had his layer of leather between them. And his eyes; they were melting her stuttering heart with how they looked at her. _He loves me. He really loves me. And... I think I love him back. Maybe I always have. By the Mando, I love those gorgeous blue eyes. That look can't be anything but love. It's so obvious. This is far beyond the crush he used to have on me years ago. How long has he felt like that? How long has he been hiding it from me because I was too stubborn to see how perfect we are together? _

However long it was, Sabine was grateful for it. She was quite determined to see that look in his eyes for the rest of her life, for she felt like she was finally right where she belonged. The love in Ezra's eyes was helping her forget, just for the moment, how WRONG the rest of her life was right now. Ezra, on the other hand, was RIGHT. Being with him felt right. Leaning on him felt right. Holding his hand felt right. She was actually thinking about moving even closer to him (possibly by climbing up into his arms and wrapping her limbs around him) and trying the whole kiss thing again, when her father spoke and tore her out of the trancelike state she'd found herself in for the last ten minutes.

"Sabine, I'm getting you a bacta bandage before you bleed out in increments."

She startled away from Ezra a bit, raising her free hand to touch the wound on her neck that she'd completely forgotten about. Her fingers came back shiny red with liquid life. "Oh. Yes. Thank you, Father." Now that she was focusing on it, her neck throbbed a bit from the shallow slice, like a really bad paper cut, and the neck and shoulder of her bodysuit was sticking to her unpleasantly. _I should probably hit the refresher and clean that up before we land. _She wiped her fingers off on her leg with a faint grimace.

Ezra frowned as he focused his gaze on the still bleeding cut on Sabine's neck just above the collar of her bodysuit, just beside her jugular. _That was too close. _"She hurt you," he said softly, regretting that he hadn't acted sooner and stopped Bo-Katan before she'd even touched Sabine. He'd known that the woman was harbouring resentment towards Sabine and had even told himself to keep an eye on her emotions. Just because she was amused one moment did not mean she would remain so the next. Unfortunately, Ezra had been mostly focused on imagining what kind of plague could blind a person. (It probably involved copious amounts of pus leaking from his brain.) Distraction wasn't a great excuse, but it was all he had. His only consolation was that Kanan hadn't picked up on Bo-Katan's intentions in time either.

"It's nothing, Ezra. A little bacta bandage will heal it by tomorrow."

Ezra touched her neck gently, quirking his mouth up in a crooked smile. "I wish I could fix it for you now, but Force Healing isn't in my bag of tricks."

Sabine laughed rather pathetically at his equally sad attempt at lightening the mood. "It's okay, Ezra. We have much bigger things to worry about than a tiny cut."

"Like not getting fried to a crisp in our armour," Fenn said, only half joking as Alrich reappeared in the room, carrying a damp cloth and an appropriately sized self-adhesive bandage. (The main refresher / med bay was the next door down the hallway if this ship was laid out the same as Ezra's.)

Ezra raised a brow at that. "Okay, so this weapon only targets Mandalorian armour, right? So why not make your armour out of something different?"

Sabine snorted and dropped his hand, smacking his arm for saying something so stupid. "Ezra, the armour I wear is five hundred years old. I reforged it to my liking, but, the battles, the history, the blood, all lives within it. And the same goes for every Mandalorian."

"Beskar armour is part of our identity," Alrich added in a patient teaching type voice. "It makes us Mandalorians who we are. Even though I rarely wear it, I do have my own set. I couldn't call myself a Mandalorian if I didn't. Even my cousin, the pacifist to the extreme Duchess Satine, had a set of Kryze coloured armour." He was busy cleaning off Sabine's neck as he said it, matter-of-factly unzipping her bodysuit as needed to reach the blood that had trickled down. It felt really nice to be taking care of his little girl again, even if she was quite grown up now. It was even nicer that she was letting him.

"And now our set-in-our-way heritage is going to make us dead," Fenn scoffed.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Sabine said determinedly. "I AM going to fix this."

"I'm holding you to that," Bo-Katan said as she re-emerged from the cockpit and everyone felt the ship come in for a landing. She stopped in front of Ezra and Sabine as Alrich finished applying the bandage, squeezing her shoulder in affection as he finished, zipped her suit back up, then moved a step away, tossing the bloodstained cloth onto a table to be dealt with later.

Bo only quirked a brow at the move, unconcerned and somewhat amused since her cousin was usually very fastidious. She wasn't even remotely surprised that he'd already taken care of Sabine's miniscule cut; the man was caring to the extreme for his daughter. He always had been. _My father would have ignored it even if I was bleeding out in front of him, believing a Mando had to be tough in any situation. Fortunately for Sabine, she had Ursa for a mother, or Alrich would have coddled her to death. How Ursa ever came to love someone who was such a polar opposite to her is beyond me. _Pretending her mind hadn't been elsewhere, Bo pinned the girl in a commanding glare, "We're landing at my camp, and they've been informed of what has transpired. There are several clans here, since we were actually planning an attack on the Imperial Saxons before I was informed by Ursa of the plan to free her husband. This is your chance to prove yourself, Sabine Wren. DON'T disappointment me."

Sabine nodded, her eyes not leaving Bo-Katan's until the older female flicked her chin towards the cargo bay, indicating Sabine should go first.

Sabine squared her shoulders, picked up her helmet, which she'd dropped when Bo-Katan had body slammed her, and walked proudly out the door.

As the ramp lowered, she found herself flanked by Ezra, Kanan, Fenn, and Chopper. Ezra and Kanan both touched an arm on either side of her at the same time in the same show of support, and Sabine couldn't help but smile slightly at how alike they were now. _I doubt they even realize it._

The first thing Sabine saw as the ramp opened was the number of people waiting for her. The second was the vast expanse of the camp nudged up against a cliff wall that told of a bigger operation than the Empire would ever care to allow if they knew about it. They clearly didn't.

_I can do this. _Taking a deep breath, she walked down the steep ramp with her heart-family at her side, Bo-Katan and her father following behind.

As she was spotted by the crowd of about thirty that had come to greet the ship, blasters were drawn and immediately pointed at her.

"Sabine Wren."

"I know you built that weapon."

"You betrayed us all."

"You're a traitor to Mandalore."

She didn't know who any of these helmeted people were, but their accusations cut her to the core. Ezra and Kanan drew their lightsabres on either side of her and got into a protective stance, which made the hurt just a little less. She glanced further over and saw Fenn had his blasters drawn as well, ready to fight for her. Even Chopper had his electric prod out and ready for action. _Stars._

_The rest of the galaxy might despise me, but this is my family and they DON'T. If Hera was here, you can bet your ass she'd already have put these people in their place for badmouthing me. _

Sabine squared her shoulders and raised her chin, staring the Mandalorian warriors down defiantly. _If my family can stand up for me, then I can fragging well stand up for myself too._

And then her father's voice came from above them from his position halfway up the ramp, and her breath caught on the rush of love she felt for him.

"Lower your weapons," Alrich called firmly. "Sabine did everything she could to stop this from happening. You must believe us. Any attack on my daughter is an attack on Clan Wren and an attack on the new Countess."

_New Countess? Oh, right. I'm the new Countess. Osik bat bevik._

That seemed to shock the crowd, as their blasters lowered ever so slightly and they looked at each other in confusion. Attacking a Countess was NOT a good idea. And this one was protected by two Jedi. Which made it even more confusing, since Jedi were supposed to be the enemy.

The opposing sides stared at each other for a whole minute, no one making a move to DO anything, but no one actually backing down either.

_"You think we can take them if we have to?" _Ezra thought to Kanan as he stared down the barrels of about sixty blasters. (Every Mando had two, of course.) He doubted they were set to stun.

_"Uhhhhhh. Let's hope we don't have to."_

_"Way to think positive, Kanan."_

_"I thought I was." _The thought came back completely deadpan.

Ezra snorted under his breath. _"They open up, I'm Force pushing the lot and grabbing Sabine and hightailing it back into the ship."_

_"I'll cover you."_

_"You always do. Have I told you lately that you're the best Master ever?"_

Kanan mentally snorted back.

Sabine couldn't take the tension anymore. She threw her helmet on the ground and all but screamed, "No!"

Ezra looked at her in shock, his fingers tightening restlessly on the hilt of his lightsabre. "Sabine! What are you doing?" _Don't piss off up the natives! Can't you see we're seriously outnumbered here? These aren't exactly stupid stormtroopers holding us at blaster point!_

"I'm prepared to take responsibility for my actions," Sabine explained quietly to him. _I have to if I'm ever to live with myself._ Ezra blinked and then nodded slightly in acceptance, but he didn't turn off his lightsabre. She didn't blame him.

Sabine addressed the crowd, raising her voice so all could hear her, especially as it seemed that even more had joined the back of the gathering. (Hard to tell for sure, though, since she was so short.) "It's true. I designed the weapon as a loyal student at the Imperial Academy. The Empire is using my prototype. But it's only functioning at a fraction of its capacity. At full power, it will destroy armies. So, you've got a choice to make. We can fight each other, or we can destroy this weapon once and for all!"

Bo had been watching the whole thing, not taking sides. She came to a decision as she'd seen what she'd needed to from the girl. She stepped forward and downward and addressed the crowd as well, after giving a quick nod of approval to Sabine. "I understand your anger. In many ways, I feel the same. But Sabine is right. Now is not the time for us to be divisive. She knows the most about this weapon and how to destroy it. We need her."

The crowd fell into quiet mutters, their blasters lowering a bit further, but most certainly not put away yet.

Bo stared down her own clan members, telling them silently to put their blasters away or be in very big trouble.

Fortunately for them, they caved to her willpower. As they holstered their blasters, bowing their heads to her slightly, the members from the other clans followed their lead, the Jedi put their weapons away, and most of the tension evaporated from the air. With a murmur as people talked amongst themselves, the crowd dispersed, going back to their tasks for the evening or to their tents.

Bo turned to Sabine and gave her a look that said the rest was up to her now. "It's time for you to prove your loyalty. Not just to your family, but to all of Mandalore. Come with me and we will make plans." Her eyes swept over Sabine's protectors and she raised an imperious brow until the Jedi nodded in obeisance. Even the blind one. _How did he know I was even looking at him? From what I've seen, his talent with the Force must be at least as good as Kenobi's. Impressive. The boy, on the other hand, seems rather mediocre. What does Sabine see in him? _ _Now this one, _she thought as her eyes came to rest on Fenn Rau, _this one is also an impressive specimen with more than adequate fighting skills. No Force powers are needed to make him a worthy warrior. _Fenn did not dip his head down under her stare, but met her eyes steadily in a look of curious assessment. That one was too proud to bow down to her. They had been on opposite sides of a triangular war, once, but now found themselves on the same side. Bo found him to be quite intriguing and thought he would make a good ally. She didn't mind him not prostrating himself at her feet like so many other men did in an attempt to win her favour. His studied aloofness and confident stance was by far more appealing. She'd have to keep an eye on that one.

Bo-Katan turned on her heel and stalked to the large command tent in the center of the camp, followed by Fenn, who thought she just might be the fiercest, hottest female he'd ever encountered. Between her commanding leadership skills, her kickass fighting style, and her elegant beauty, Fenn was thinking he might be in love and how come it had taken so long for him to meet her? _Seriously, we've been fighting the same wars for years, but I've never managed to meet her in person? There is something seriously kriffed up with that. _

Ezra and Sabine looked at each other. _That was tense. But we survived to fight another day, _the look said. A look they'd given each other many times over the years.

She raised a shapely purple dyed eyebrow at him. _Did you really have to question me in front of everyone?_

Ezra shrugged with a bashful look, rubbing the back of his neck for a moment before he remembered that that was an unattractive show of insecurity. _Sorry. My mouth thinks before my brain sometimes. I know you're a Countess now. _He summoned over Sabine's helmet for her as a pathetic peace offering.

She shook her head at him as she accepted the offering of her own helmet from the air. _Such a sweet, talented, dork. _Then she leaned over and kissed his cheek gently, letting her lips linger on a spot just below his sexy double scar. _Think about that when you go to sleep tonight, Ez'ika. I promise we'll try some real kissing soon._

Ezra blushed scarlet in the scorching heat of the late afternoon sun. _Oh Force, that was definitely not just a friendly kiss! I think I might swoon. Can a manly Jedi get away with swooning?_

Sabine gave him a sexy, suggestive smile, biting her bottom lip in attractive white teeth for just an instant, her amber eyes flashing promises at him, before turning and walking away in the same direction Bo-Katan had gone. Her distant cousin was not one to be kept waiting.

Ezra was left behind, staring at her confidently striding, exceedingly hot, figure with his heart in his eyes as he held his hand to his tingling cheek in awe. He startled when Kanan clapped him on the back. "I think it's safe to say that you two are dating now," he said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"But… What if our dating is not the best thing for Sabine? Mandos don't like Jedi."

Kanan shrugged. "I'd say that she doesn't seem to be too worried about it so you shouldn't be either. That girl has clearly chosen you. Her signature practically clung to yours before she walked off."

Ezra gaped at Kanan, doing a good impersonation of a landlocked fish before he snapped his jaw closed. _Wow! Oh kriff. Okay. Okay. We can deal with any haters together, I guess. I doubt I'd have the fortitude to turn her down now anyway. Not after that kiss and even hotter look._

And then he was clapped on the back again by Alrich. "Kanan's right. Sabine has definitely staked a claim on you. Us Jedi hating Mandos will learn to deal with her choice." Alrich winked cheekily before he followed after Sabine, calling over his shoulder, "Congratulations, son. Don't make me wait too long for the grandkids."

Kanan snorted with laughter as he followed after Alrich, catching up to the slightly shorter man in only two long legged steps.

Ezra's jaw practically dropped to the ground again as he stared after the two men who were now laughing like lothloons. _They've lost it. "I am NOT having kids anytime soon!" _he all but yelled into Kanan's mind in protest, because he had to protest to someone.

_"But Alrich wants them," _Kanan teased back.

_"Don't care."_

_"You should."_ Kanan was still laughing both out loud and in Ezra's mind.

_"Nerfherder." _Then Ezra closed down the bond with a snap like a mental 'frag you'.

Chopper bumped into the back of his legs, beeped something like, "Get a move on, meatbag," and rolled after the others.

Ezra startled out of his frozen position and ran after the older men. He caught up to Alrich and jogged backwards in front of him. "You were kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding?"

Alrich just grinned and swept into a huge guarded tent like he belonged there.

Ezra turned to Kanan, eyes pleading. "He was kidding, right?"

Kanan shrugged, a smile still playing on the corners of his mouth. "Probably not. Their clan is a little depleted at the moment. They have to grow their numbers somehow. And I believe it is quite common for their people to marry young and produce children early since their life expectancy tends to be on the short side."

"Kanan!" Ezra said in shocked despair that his Master was still playing along with what Ezra sincerely hoped was cruel joke.

Kanan just squeezed his shoulder and ducked into the tent.

Ezra looked from one guard to the other, standing on either side of the doorway and armoured in Bo-Katan's clan colours of silver and royal blue. "Was he kidding?"

They shrugged as if in practiced synchronicity and then one held the door open for him.

_Well, kriff that. Alrich can't make me have kids while I'm still a teenager. Sabine, on the other hand…_

Ezra shook his head at himself, quickly dispelling the thought before it took root. His eyes were still wide when he entered the massive tent.

* * *

_Mando'a translations:_

_Dar'manda - Traitor to Mandalore. Declared without honour and cast out. Clanless. _

_Haar'chak – Damn it!_

_Osik bat bevik - Shit on a stick._


	4. You're Mine Now

**You're Mine Now:**

Ezra walked over to where everyone else was gathered around Chopper, who was projecting the schematics of a Star Destroyer. He was basically in a daze over the concept of having kids sooner than later, so he didn't contribute to the conversations, but he did manage to more or less listen.

Alrich was speaking as Ezra stopped beside Kanan. "Saxon has worked hard to keep the weapon secret, so he likely has it aboard his Imperial Star Destroyer outside of Sundari. Needless to say, it will be very well guarded."

Sabine was next. "Once we get inside that ship, we'll need two teams. One to find the weapon and one to wipe out every shred of data on the Imperial computer systems." Ezra suppressed the urge to smile like a dork from listening to her voice. It was sweet and commanding at the same time. How she did that, he didn't know, but he sure was a sucker for it.

"This weapon. Is there any way it could be turned against the Empire?" Fenn asked Sabine.

Sabine blinked twice at the suggestion, because it was actually something she'd thought of many times in the dead of night. And unbeknownst to her instructors at the Academy, she had done preliminary research on calibrating her weapon to focus on other types of armour. The problem with changing the parameters of the Duchess meant that it would then be her who was the one with questionable methods of destroying her enemies. And if the Duchess was left intact, it could always be changed back. That could never be allowed to happen.

She gave her curious audience the short version of her thoughts. "I've studied stormtrooper armour, and, while the thought has crossed my mind, that isn't our mission," she replied. _But I wouldn't mind if Saxon felt the power of the Duchess. _

_No. Bad Sabine. Don't talk yourself out of this. _

_But…_

_I said no!_

_Fine._ Vengeful Sabine pouted and retreated to the back of her mind. Mostly.

Moralistic Sabine had the final say with her rapt audience. "No. No, we have to destroy it."

Ezra and Kanan caught the hint of something in her voice that said conflict was brewing at the back of her mind. Ezra wouldn't be surprised if Sabine did something completely unexpected during the mission. She was good at that; coming up with new ways to destroy things on the fly. _I bet if the opportunity presents itself, she WILL tinker with her weapon. She won't be able to resist._

She could practically feel Fenn's disappointment in her answer. _Too bad, Fenn. I'm not mass murdering stormtroopers to win this war. They're not the one's running the show. It's the leaders we need to eliminate. Also known as Tarkin, Thrawn, and that skeevy Palpatine. _

_What happened when I invented the Duchess, anyway? How did a simple science project turn into something so terrible?_

"If I can get to the weapon, I can make sure it's destroyed," Sabine finished with, radiating determination.

"I'll get you there," Bo-Katan said, just as determinedly.

"Ezra and I will take Chopper to the data core," Kanan volunteered for them. Ezra hid a frown. He would rather be with Sabine's team, but he didn't oppose his Master.

"All right. Let's go over our infiltration plan." Sabine became more animated and hopeful as she talked about her plan and the schematics of the Star Destroyer and the most likely place the weapon would be located.

Ezra's attention divided as Fenn and Bo-Katan stepped away from the group and started talking quietly to each other.

Unobtrusively studying the pair for a moment, Ezra opened his bond to Kanan up again. _"Hey, Kanan."_

_"What?"_

_"Look at Fenn and Lady Kryze. Is it just me or is his signature softer and yet more lively than I've ever seen it?"_

Kanan didn't have to turn his head to do as requested. His incredibly detailed Force Sight went around him three hundred and sixty degrees. Ezra had been practicing, but his Sight still only showed him what he was more or less pointing towards. And he was sure he didn't get even a fraction of the details Kanan did. He couldn't read with it like Kanan did, that was for sure.

After a few seconds, Kanan replied. _"Nope. Not just you. Fenn definitely fancies her. A lot."_

Ezra hid a smirk by rubbing his nose. _"And what about Kryze? Does she like him back?"_

_"She's not sure yet. Her emotions are curious but cautious."_

_"That's what I thought too. I hope for his sake that she gives him a chance. He deserves to be just as pathetically lovesick as the rest of us."_

Kanan's mouth quirked up, mentally chuckling as he nudged Ezra with his elbow. _"You're bad."_

Ezra elbowed him back. _"I know." _

Ezra found it quite amusing that Fenn seemed to have fallen so quickly for the woman. He could see the appeal... if you like beautiful badass female warrior types. _Which I do. And I fell just as fast for mine, didn't I? _

Ezra's attention returned wholly to his own badass female warrior and he couldn't help the small smile as he watched her animated face as she brainstormed over her plan of attack with her father and the assistance of Chopper's holo display. Alrich, despite being an artist, seemed to know an awful lot about the layout of Star Destroyers and the postings of the troops on the Destroyers and in the city. _I wonder if he's more like an undercover spy? Sabine certainly isn't surprised by his input._

She was so good at this, and really was a born leader. Ezra was more than happy to stand at her side and let her make the big decisions, protecting her back as necessary. He could lead when he had to, but he enjoyed watching Sabine take control of things more. When it came to her, Ezra was just happy to spend whatever time he could with her.

The meeting came to an end some fifteen minutes later and Bo-Katan invited them to dine with her clan for the evening meal. The attack on Saxon's Star Destroyer was scheduled to take place a few hours before dawn, so more forces could arrive, giving them about six hours to eat and rest.

* * *

Dinner was interesting.

Ezra sat between Kanan and Sabine while she picked at her food, frowning at it absently. His appetite was fine, but he hadn't lost a chunk of his family only hours before. He spent most of his time observing the Mandos around him as they chattered away in Mando'a. Every once in a while, he'd catch a word that he thought he recognized, the most common of which was 'Jetii', the Mando'a version of Jedi, or some of the swear words that Sabine was fond of. If their emotions and barely civilized looks were anything to go by, the Mandos were not in love with the idea of having Jedi in their camp.

And they were even more displeased by the fact that Ezra was attached to one of their females, completely disregarding the fact that Sabine wasn't exactly their favourite person either.

Ezra discovered this fun little snippet by accident when he refilled her cup for her and she'd given him a half smile in thanks, her eyes far away and sad. Hoping to bring her back to the here and now, and restore a proper smile to her face, he'd brushed her hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek the same way that she had his; soft and lingering, before whispering that she should try and eat something to go with her mead or she'd end up woozy.

Sabine had blinked at him, smiled for real, and actually put a bite of food in her mouth.

The rest of the hundred or so warriors seated at tables around them had basically stopped breathing and the tent had gone silent for a good ten seconds. The temperature in the big tent had dropped like a sudden attack of winter. And their emotions had gone from displeased to outright repugnance.

For the sake of entertainment, Ezra had found half a dozen more excuses to touch Sabine while encouraging her to actually eat her dinner. The tent sizzled with tension every time.

It was hilarious, if somewhat alarming for Ezra's life expectancy.

Sabine was somehow oblivious, but she seemed to be working through things in her mind, so Ezra let it slide.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Kanan whispered to him after Ezra put his free arm across her shoulders and snuggled her a little closer into his side. Their displeased audience all but gasped in outrage.

Ezra grinned at him when Sabine hummed in a happy but still distracted way and then forked in another bite of salad. "Worth it," he whispered back smugly.

Kanan shook his head at him, amused resignation trickling down their bond.

Fenn, who was sitting across the table from them, smirked into his cup of mead. "Can you blame him, Kanan?"

Kanan sighed in an exaggeratedly forlorn fashion. "I suppose not. Girl's been making him wait for four years. I guess he's earned the right to a few death defying displays of affection."

Ezra grinned wider when Sabine actually focused on the people around them long enough to lean around Ezra and smirk at Kanan. "Yes, he has." She then kissed Ezra on the jaw before poking at her salad and mentally going elsewhere again.

Alrich raised a brow. "Four years, huh?"

Ezra shrugged. "More or less. She was worth the wait, though."

Kanan barked out a laugh. "Even when she was telling you to go take a flying leap off the top of the Ghost again because you wouldn't leave her alone?"

Ezra flushed lightly. "I was fourteen," he said defensively. "I had no self control back then. She hasn't told me that in years."

Fenn paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. "Wait, why does it sound like you actually did take a leap off the Ghost at some point?"

Both Ezra and Kanan winced. "Ummmm. That's a long story," Kanan mumbled.

Alrich stopped eating too, sensing a really good story. "You must tell it. We have time."

"Uhhh. Well," Ezra started. "I was just learning how to be a Jedi…"

"And I was just learning how to teach him to be a Jedi…"

"And I wasn't very good yet…"

"And I overfaced him…"

Sabine huffed in exasperation, her attention caught again in the present reality. "You two are terrible story tellers." She looked across at Fenn and her father. "Kanan was trying to teach Ezra how to use a lightsabre by having Chopper throw empty water bottles at him. Chopper went a little nuts and threw too many all at once. Ezra tripped on one and fell backwards off the Ghost. We happened to be hovering about a kilometre above the ground at the time."

"Shabla hell!" Fenn exclaimed.

"How did you survive?!" Alrich asked with wide eyes.

"Kanan caught me with the Force and pulled me back up," Ezra said proudly. "It was amazing."

The other two men gawked at the bearded Jedi in admiration.

Kanan flushed under his mask. "It was nothing."

Sabine snorted. "Kanan's had to rescue Ezra from falling to his death more than once. I think today was the first time that Ezra more or less saved himself."

"Hey!" he protested out of principle, even if it was true. "I've gotten better at not getting myself into precarious situations in the first place."

"That's true," she admitted, patting his arm consolingly.

Ezra decided to call that about as good as it got in terms of praise from her and dedicated himself to finishing his dinner.

Now up to the dessert course, Ezra took his and Kanan's empty plates and Sabine's half full one away and returned with three small plates filled with a deliciously gooey looking chocolate cake. Where they got chocolate cake from, he had no idea, considering they were in the middle of a rather large, covert operation against the Empire. But then again, Bo-Katan was the Countess of one of the wealthiest and most influential clans on the planet. If anyone could afford to buy cake for a hundred people, it would be her.

Somehow, while Ezra was gone, Sabine had acquired a datapad and was typing at lightning speed on the touchscreen with a focused dedication that indicated all of her previous thinking had produced something interesting. "What ARE you working on?" Ezra asked curiously as he set a plate in front of her.

"Just… things," she said evasively.

"Evil weapon things?"

"Maybe." She frowned at him then focused on her datapad again.

Ezra dropped it, sensing she wasn't going to talk about it.

Deciding to focus on something more pleasant, Ezra took a forkful of cake and placed it into his mouth, nearly moaning in taste bud delight. "Karabast, this is good. We never get cake like this at Chopper Base."

Kanan forked in a bite and quickly nodded in agreement. "Heaven."

Fenn was inhaling his cake like he'd never get another piece. Probably so he could go back for seconds before it was all gone.

Sabine was still typing away, cake untouched.

Knowing how much Sabine loved chocolate, Ezra frowned at her. He picked up her fork and stabbed some cake for her and then held it to her mouth. "Open. This is really good and I'm going to eat it for you if you don't."

The warning got through to her occupied brain enough for her to her open her mouth for his offering.

Then her eyes closed and she actually did moan in taste bud bliss. "Stars, that's good," she said after swallowing. She snatched her fork from him and immediately put all of her concentration into savouring her cake, pushing the datapad away and pulling the plate closer, curling over it possessively. "Mine," she all but snarled at Ezra.

Alrich chortled into his napkin as he wiped away cake crumbs. "Never get between a girl and her chocolate cake."

Ezra grinned to himself, forking up another bite for himself. _Mission accomplished._

* * *

Somehow, Ezra found himself braving the wild herd of Mandos for a second piece of cake for his ladylove.

She'd finished her cake in record time for someone who was clearly savouring every bite, and then she'd looked at the lineup to the buffet table assessingly. When she sighed and let her shoulders drop in clear defeat, Ezra couldn't stand it.

So he shoved the last quarter of his cake into his mouth all at once, just to make sure he actually got to eat it lest someone else decide it was fair game while he was gone, and then he was leaping up from the table.

"Where are you going?" Sabine asked as she dragged her datapad back in front of her.

Ezra swallowed down the massive bite with effort before answering. "To get you more cake, my beautiful cyar'ika." And then he was gone, sliding around tables and people with swift ease.

Sabine gawked for a moment before a very soft smile that might be interpreted as loving appreciation crossed her face and she turned around fully to watch her Jedi perform what should be an impossible feat.

Bo, overhearing, actually felt her heart melt a little at the boy's devotion. _Jedi or not, that one's a keeper. And would you look at that; not entirely the bumbling buffoon I thought. _

Their whole table watched in avid curiosity as the lithe Jedi boy literally slithered around and under the bigger warriors. Not a single person seemed to be aware of what he was doing because he didn't touch any of them. "How is he...?" Bo started to ask, with wide eyes.

"Former street rat." Kanan said as his only explanation.

That was enough. Bo got it. _Orphan, then, most likely. _She also concluded that he was probably older than he looked because nearly every street rat she'd met had been half starved and smaller than they should be. But they did make fantastic spies and informants.

Ezra grinned to himself in triumph when he'd maneuvered his way to the front of the jostling and impatient line without any exclamations of protest. He arrived just in time, too, because there was only five plates of cake left.

He snatched one up and that's when someone finally figured out he'd just cut in front of about forty people.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" a very large warrior with dark skin and purple eyes growled at him, prompting more protests of a similar nature to erupt down the entire line.

Ezra smirked at the young man who reminded him of Ketsu for some reason. "I'm taking a piece of cake. What does it look like?"

"I don't think so, Jedi." The warrior moved to snatch it from his hand but Ezra was faster.

He jumped backwards, balancing the cake carefully, and assessed the situation. The warriors were all but salivating like rabid mookas as they closed in on him menacingly. In his mind, Kanan was laughing again, curse him.

_"How are you going to get yourself out of this one?" _Kanan teased unmercifully.

_"I take it no help is on its way?"_

_"Not a chance. This is way too entertaining."_

_"Thanks,"_ Ezra replied, layering on the sarcasm.

Making a decision based on his will to live, Ezra gathered the Force around him and leapt, flying right over the heads of the shocked warriors. _Thank whomever that the ceiling on this tent is generous, _he thought as the top of his head scraped the material.

"Now that's just cheating!" the first warrior called across the tent as Ezra landed beside his table.

Ezra turned his head over his shoulder and yelled back, "All's fair in love, cake, and war!"

Amidst the rumbles of discontent and even a few chuckles, Ezra presented the slice of cake to Sabine with a flourish. "For you, My Lady."

Sabine took the cake graciously, grinning widely. "Thank you, Kind Sir."

Beaming with pride, Ezra sank back down onto the bench beside her. She snuggled in close and then shoveled in a bite of cake, moaning in pleasure again.

Ezra couldn't have been happier. Or more turned on.

_"Smooth, kid. Real smooth."_

Ezra smiled across the table at Kanan as he snuck an arm over Sabine's shoulders again, and she turned to kiss his cheek between bites of cake. _"I thought so."_

The warriors were still grumbling and giving Ezra dirty looks, which he was blithely ignoring, but Bo had had enough of their childishness.

She stood abruptly drawing every eye to her and silence quickly filled the room. "Get over yourselves already! Jedi or not, the boy won that cake for Countess Wren. Although not exactly in the fairest fashion, but it's done, so shut up or get out."

No one moved.

No one said a word.

No one dared.

Nodding in satisfaction, Bo sat back down again, smiling to herself.

Her tablemates gave her grateful smiles and Fenn winked. Bo had the sudden urge to fan herself.

_"I like her," _Kanan thought to Ezra.

Ezra laughed back. _"Don't let Hera hear you say that," _ he teased.

Kanan kicked him under the table.

* * *

Since the mission was now only about four hours away, Sabine and company were invited to stay with Bo-Katan's camp. A spare tent was erected in minutes (which included a race that ended up in a tickle war that Sabine wasn't actually sure who had won) for them and five cots placed around the edges.

Sabine stripped off her armour, belts, gloves, and boots, but left everything else on, and fell into the cot, exhausted from the long day, but too agitated to sleep. With her hands folded over her stomach and her sockinged feet crossed at the ankles, she stared up at the ceiling of the tent while she listened to the breathing of the men turn regular and deep once Fenn finally showed up to retire. The lump in the darkness that was Fenn was the first to start snoring. Within minutes, her father joined in and they were snoring in harmony. Then Kanan and Ezra added their own, fortunately softer, versions of proboscis harmonies. Normally, it would have been either comical or annoying as hell, depending on her mood, but tonight, Sabine was mostly just numb.

She'd spent a lot of time thinking at dinner.

Thinking about everything that had gone wrong today; from attacking the wrong facility, to almost losing Ezra, to finding out the hard way that the Duchess was back. Every new thought was more depressing than the last.

So, to distract herself, she'd started mentally digging up her research on the plastoid armour that Imperials wore, pulling it out of a mental file that had been buried more than five years ago. The more she thought about the properties of the plastoid, the more she was convinced she could adopt the Duchess to target it. By the time dinner was over, she'd come up with all of the necessary formulas and calculations on a datapad and then transferred the codes to the computer in her vambrace. Just in case.

Ezra's affectionate touches had been just distracting enough to prevent her from completely getting lost in her mind like she did sometimes. The first one had nearly startled her, because she wasn't used to him being that forward with her person. (Or anyone, for that matter.) But after that, she welcomed them. Even though she knew the reason she was craving touch so much was because she was in an emotionally vulnerable place right now, and she normally would retreat from the world to protect her tough girl shell, Sabine wasn't going to push Ezra away. His gentle touches and sweet little kisses were exactly what she needed to help her remember that she had something worth living and fighting for.

And he seemed to get a kick out of annoying the other warriors with his displays, which had almost been enough to make her laugh at one point. They were going to have to get used to Ezra in her life whether they liked it or not because she wasn't giving him up for anything.

Her mouth quirked up in a temporary half smile as she remembered how Ezra had risked death to get her a second piece of cake before it was all gone. _So incredibly sweet. But he'd always been like that. I just chose not to see it for what it was. _

Ezra's cake snatching had inspired near chaos from the pack of grumpy Mandalorians but Bo-Katan had swiftly nipped their anger in the bud.

_She certainly has a way with people. Everyone respects her. Everyone looks up to her. _

_I wonder…_

_Is she the leader I've been looking for to give the Darksabre to?_

Sabine decided to see how the mission went tomorrow before deciding for sure, but in the back of her mind, she was pretty much already decided. With Korkie Kryze deceased, Bo-Katan was now the rightful heir to Duchess Satine anyway. _She should be ruling the planet right now, not Saxon scum. _

The Darksabre had found its new Mand'alor.

And it wasn't her.

It never was meant to be, but the thought of giving up the weapon that she'd trained so hard to master hit her harder than it should have. Like Kanan said, she'd connected to it in some fundamental way that she couldn't exactly feel mentally because she wasn't Force sensitive, but her heart knew.

She was going to miss having the lightsabre hanging on her belt. Reaching down a bit, and fumbling blindly at the pile of things beside her bed, she unhooked the lightsabre and clutched it gently in her hands, holding it over her heart, wishing she could hear the subtle hum that Ezra said the black Kyber crystal emitted.

_One more mission. _

_We'll avenge Mother, Tristan, and my other clan members together. And then I'll give you to your new human. You'll like her. She's fierce and proud and every bit as badass as a Mand'alor should be._

_She's exactly what Mandalore needs right now._

_And with the Darksabre in her hand, none will question her right to lead again._

_Not like they'll question me. I don't know if I can be the Countess of my clan. So many people hate me._

_Why? Why did Mother have to die?_

Sabine was grateful to have her father back, but at the cost of losing her mother and brother just made it agonizingly bittersweet. _If I had known this was how it was going to play out, would I have done it again? Could we have done things differently, or was it all a setup by Saxon? Is he even smart enough to orchestrate all of that? How does one choose between the father that you adore and the mother you respect but can't ever love again because of what she did to you? And what about my beloved baby brother? Tristan didn't deserve this. He was only seventeen for frag's sake. None of my clan deserved to die today._

As her thoughts fell into the realm of depression again, her eyes started leaking bitter, frozen tears, the tracks running down into her ears uncomfortably.

Hating herself right now, Sabine rose silently from her cot, keeping the Darksabre in her hand, then grabbed her boots and gun belt and ducked out of the tent. She shoved her feet into her boots, buckled on her belt, hooked the lightsabre to it, and walked with crossed arms holding her together through the nearly silent camp. The guard at the perimeter wall peered at her but didn't say anything as she walked past him out into the desert and just kept walking.

When the camp was just a speck in the distance, she sank to her knees in the sand and let the sorrow take over but held back the screams, not wanting to wake the camp that would hear her, even as far out as she was, since sound carried well on the barren, cracked, and desolate land.

With her head bowed and her shoulders shaking with the force of her grief, her eyes closed and the sound and sight of the Duchess doing its evil work assaulted her mind, memories taking over from today and years ago.

* * *

Ezra had been asleep for maybe an hour when jolts of pain and sorrow woke him up, feeling like they came from within him, furrowing his brow in surprise and consternation. He glanced over at Kanan and saw that his Master was sleeping soundly and quietly, the bond between them quiet. Kanan had had his share of bad nights, but this wasn't his grief. _So who...? What?_

Ezra looked to Sabine's cot next and found it empty. Understanding dawned as he realized he was feeling Sabine. _Holy frag. _

Jolting off his cot, he stuffed his feet into his boots, buckled on his weapons belt, and shoved his arms into his orange jacket, having gone to bed in just his t-shirt and trousers. He hurried through the camp, sensing that Sabine needed him. NOW.

Ezra went to pass the guard but paused when the man called out, "She went that way."

The guard wasn't surprised by Ezra appearing shortly after the new Countess had left. He'd seen how protective the young Jedi was of her and had observed them together during the evening meal. The two were clearly close and rumours had been flying around the camp that the new Countess had picked a Jedi as her consort. No one knew quite what to make of that, but no one dared insult her choice now. Not after Countess Kryze had all but endorsed the match. After the Wren girl had retired for the night, Fenn Rau had told the tale of how she had defeated Gar Saxon with the Darksabre and everyone's opinion of her had increased a notch or too. Rightfully possessing the Darksabre also made her one of the most powerful people on Mandalore right now. If she chose to be the next Mand'alor, some would oppose her, but not many.

Ezra gave a quick nod of acknowledgement, not actually needing the help, but was glad the warrior was being friendly. _Had something changed since dinner? _

He took off at a run, beelining for where he felt Sabine's presence off in the distance, his path lit by faint moonlight. As her sorrow built and built to something he wasn't sure even she, with all her innate strength, could survive, Ezra pushed his legs into moving faster, calling on the Force to lend him the speed of the wind.

Within moments, he was sinking down to the sand beside her and drawing her into his lap, hugging his arms around her shaking body. He knew she hadn't had enough time to grieve properly earlier, and so wasn't too surprised by this, but his heart near broke for her anyway.

"Shhhhh. I'm here, cyar'ika. I'm here," he murmured.

Sabine buried her face in Ezra's shoulder. "Ezra," she managed to sob out. "It hurts."

He kissed the top of her head and rocked her gently. "I know, Sabine. I know. Just let it out. It helps. I promise," he whispered in a voice almost as haggard as hers. "Kanan would tell you to give the pain to the Force, if he was here."

Sabine clenched her hands on Ezra's shirt and tried to give the pain away, but she didn't know how. It was all just so built up in her. Years and years of holding it all in, culminating with the loss of her family, and it was just too much. All she could do was cry harder, which didn't seem possible, but she did.

Ezra desperately wished he could help her, more than just being there to hold her. He wanted to take her pain away. Make her feel better. Make everything right for her again. Turn back time even. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. So very very sorry," he whispered into her hair.

He didn't know how it happened but he was pretty sure he now had a mental bond with Sabine much like his with Kanan. He was feeling her much too clearly for it to be anything else. He was practically drowning in her grief. _Maybe because she'd decided to open her emotions to him earlier today?_

Not sure if she would hear him, but deciding to try it anyway, Ezra closed his eyes and pushed his thoughts into Sabine's mind, her despair leaving her naturally shielded mind more open than usual. "_Give me your pain_," he thought clearly. "_I can take care of it for you. Let me do this for you._"

Sabine nodded slightly against his chest and opened her mind wider, sending her pain to Ezra instinctively, because she trusted him to take care of it.

Ezra almost gasped as she opened the floodgates, but he breathed through it, deep and slow, and started siphoning it out into the Force like Kanan had taught him so many years ago, basically going into a meditative state to do it. He didn't know how long it took for Sabine's grief to slow down, but he dealt with it. When the last trickles of sorrow had been given to a better place, Ezra squeezed her a little tighter to his chest and kissed the top of head again. "_Are you feeling better now_?" he asked in her mind, not wanting to give up the deep connection that they'd established.

Sabine nodded again, scrubbing her face against his soft jacket, and suddenly noticing how hard his body was underneath of it. "Ummm hmmmm, thank you, Ez'ika."

Ezra smiled gently into her hair, loving the feel of the strands against his cheek. It was so silky and smelled like the sweetest of flowers with the permanent undertone of paint that clung to her. "_You're welcome_."

_This is nice. I like being on Ezra's lap. And his voice is so soothing. It's like melted butter in my mind._

_Wait. In my mind? He hasn't been talking out loud?_

_Now hold on just one nerfherding minute! _Sabine's eyes opened wide and she reared back in his arms. "Ezra Bridger, are you talking in my mind?!"

Ezra shrugged and one side of his mouth quirked up and he returned to talking out loud. "If I say yes, will you be angry?"

Sabine narrowed her eyes at him and thought about it. _It was a rather serious invasion of privacy, but on the other hand, he did help me feel better._ "I'll let you get away with it this time, Bridger. But you better not make a habit of that. My mind is my own."

Ezra smiled and pulled her closer again. "I know, Sabine. I would never dare to intrude unless it was important. This felt important."

Sabine relaxed against his chest again, finger tracing the line on his jacket where two different colours met across his collarbone and up his shoulder. "You're right. It was justified." She looked up at him, eyes taking in the line of his jaw from that angle. It looked very kissable all of a sudden. "I know you can do the whole Jedi Mind Trick thing, but I didn't know you could actually be telepathic with other people."

Ezra looked uncomfortable all of a sudden and his eyes no longer met hers. "I can't, not usually. Only to people I have a Force bond with, like Kanan."

_He and Kanan mind speak to each other? That explains a lot. No wonder they're so in sync with each other sometimes._

Sabine's eyes widened as she realized what else he was saying. "And me? You have a bond with me?" she asked very softly.

Ezra looked back at her, his brilliant blue eyes looking almost black in the dark. He nodded ever so slightly. "And you."

Sabine breathed in as she understood the implications of that. _They were BOUND. That's incredible. And thrilling. Ezra really is mine now._

Her arms crept up around his neck and her fingers rubbed against the short hairs at the back of his nape. She suddenly wished he'd grow his hair out again so she could play with it properly. (Not to mention the rich dark blue colour was nearly lost when it was this short.) "Ezra," she said softly, invitingly, raising her mouth towards his.

_Oh kriff. This is it. She wants me to kiss her for real. Don't panic. I can do this. Just touch her mouth with yours and try not to smash your nose into hers. Simple._

_Yeah right._

_Just do it, Bridger. Don't keep the warrior goddess waiting._

He took a deep breath and studied her, making sure she was one hundred percent on the same page that he was.

Her shining eyes and barely parted lips said she was.

Ezra's breath caught in his throat at how beautiful her pale face looked in the moonlight. "Sabine." He cupped one side of her face with his hand lovingly and bent down to press his mouth to hers in a featherlight, experimental kiss. The electricity that surged through him at the contact was heady and shot straight to his heart and he wanted it again.

_Force, her lips are soft. I could kiss her forever._

_Kriff, that was_ _nice,_ she thought as a faint shiver ran through her from head to toe._ Again, Ezra._

Their eyes met for a moment and then shuttered closed as their mouths pressed together again, fitting just right and whispering soft caresses. Sabine opened her mouth a little with a gasp at how amazing this felt and found herself the recipient of Ezra's questing tongue. She sucked on the tip, which made him groan, and soon they were dueling in the most passionate way that made her shake with need and move around on his lap so she was straddling him, wanting to get even closer and feel even more of her body pressed to his hard one. She found herself grinding against the hard length that was in just the right place now to stimulate her senses even more. Jolts of electricity shot through her with every slight movement of her hips.

When she felt like she was going to combust from the fire trying to take over her insides, Sabine pulled her mouth away from his and stared at him in shock, breathing in shallow gasps. "I had no idea it could be like that."

Ezra sucked in necessary air, the bare fingers of one hand buried in her silky hair and his other hand curled around her hip and basically holding her against his hardness. He THROBBED against her and he could swear he could feel her heat through their layers of clothes. It felt like he was about two seconds away from exploding then and there. He gulped as he realized he was holding her butt and was practically forcing her to rub against him. _Oops. Maybe a little too presumptuous for a first make out session, there, Bridger. I doubt she wants to know the precise dimensions of Little Ezra so soon. _

_Speaking of... Settle down, boy, before you strangle yourself to death. There's only so much room for you in there._

Ezra reluctantly forced his hand to move up a little higher to the curve of her waist. He gave her a bashful, crooked smile. "I didn't either. I think I lost all control."

Sabine smirked and wiggled just a little, deliberately teasing him, inspiring a pained groan that rose up from deep in his chest. _Oh kriff, let the strangulation commence._

"You're not the only one, babe," Sabine admitted coyly, biting her lower lip in the most sexy fashion that made his heart pound visibly in the pulse at his throat. She rubbed her chest against his, happy she wasn't wearing her armour plating, but wishing her bodysuit was a little less thick. _Is it too soon to start striping? That lightsabre in Ezra's trousers seems to think that's a fantastic idea. _"I think we need more practice. You wanna do it again?"

Ezra's eyes went wide before a predatory smile settled on his face. "Force, yes."

Sabine hummed a little in contentment as his mouth crashed down onto hers again. _How is he so good at kissing already? Not that I'm complaining. Most definitely not complaining. Kriff, do that swirly thing with your tongue again. That move goes straight to my core. Holy nerf. I'm claiming your tongue (and the rest of your more interesting body parts) as my property from now on. _

Choosing Ezra as her future husband was definitely not a mistake.

* * *

_Mando'a translations:_

_Shabla - fuck, fucking, or fucked up, depending on context._

_Mand'alor - Ruler of all of the Mandalorian people. The Darksabre is a traditional symbol of the Mand'alor's power. _


	5. Matters of Attachment and Loyalty

**Matters of Attachment and Loyalty:**

_D3/1 BBY, Mandalore_

Ezra was drowning in Sabine.

He was overwhelmed by her sweet taste. Her scent of flowers and paint. The feel of her weight on him. The feel of her slender curves under his hands that had lost the ability to stay still. The way she moaned and hummed her pleasure in tiny sounds in her throat as he worshipped her cute little ears and neck with his lips and teeth and tongue, careful of the small bandage on one side.

When he did manage to open his eyes, he drowned in the sight of her passion filled features, so exotically beautiful. The skin of her face was exquisitely soft, making a mockery of his own somewhat stubbled and scar covered one. Her eyebrows arched just so over the amber eyes he'd never get tired of looking into. Her cheekbones were high and well defined in her delicate face, a flush of pleasure colouring them, even in the dark. Her nose was adorable. Her chin and jawline, proud and pointed. Her lips were the perfect pillows for his own, parted right now as she gasped in air.

Somehow, he was managing to maintain enough control over his flaming body to keep from shooting off in his underwear, but he wasn't sure how.

Sabine could barely think, Ezra was doing such a good job turning her brain to mush. Who knew her neck was so sensitive? Or her ears? And her clit was practically singing from all the grinding she'd been doing against the large bulge in his pants. She loved the fire he brought to life in her and wanted more, so much more.

Deciding that he needed to feel this too, Sabine grabbed the sides of his face, since he didn't have enough hair to hang on to, and pulled his mouth away from her neck and plastered her lips to his in another mind blowing kiss. She had the passing thought that they'd wasted a lot of kissing time over the last four years, but it quickly flittered away.

Putting her hands on his shoulders, she pushed his back down to the ground so she was completely perched over him and in control. "You're mine, Ez'ika," she said teasingly.

_Of course I am, _Ezra thought in dazed acceptance. She looked like a goddess with the moonlight outlining her face and figure. "I always have been," he murmured, smiling with a flash of white in the dark. "No one before you and certainly never anyone after you. I'll love you until the end of this life and into the next."

_Haar'chak, Ezra, you're killing me. How am I supposed to respond to that? This is all so new for me. _He reached up a hand and pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear in a gentle caress that sent another shiver through her. _Frag it, I'll just show him how I feel. _And so she smiled at him with a predatory baring of teeth before she swooped down and pressed her mouth to his neck just like he'd been doing to her a couple minutes before.

Ezra's eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head. _No wonder she'd been making little pleasure noises. This was GOOD. Bite my neck as much as you want._ "Sabiiiinnnneee," he moaned.

In response, one of her hands snaked down his chest and then back up again, but this time under his t-shirt. Ezra sucked in his breath at the feel of her little hand on his bare skin and almost forgot to let it out again. Every exploratory sweep of her hand left him feeling more lightheaded than the last as even more blood travelled south and stayed there. He was literally going to combust from the delicious torture and he never wanted it to stop.

_Oooooooo, hard. Me likey. _Sabine couldn't help but be impressed by the toned muscles she was feeling. There wasn't an ounce of fat on him. His skin was smooth and soft over a layer of durasteel in a complete contradiction of sensations. His abs and ribs were like little waves below the gentle hills of his pectorals. _And this is his teenage body. His mature male body is probably going to blow my mind. _After teasingly skimming over his tiny little nipples, her hand came to rest over his heart, feeling it pound under her palm. She found that incredibly intimate and thrilling, her core seeming to pulse in time with his heart. She nipped his ear and then kissed a path down the slightly rough texture of his jawline and returned to kissing, delving her tongue in his mouth once again, yet another little moan escaping her throat at the raw pleasure of the carnal act.

All he could do was groan back, tangling his tongue with hers. _Never wanna stop. Kiss her forever. Love. Love. Love. _

_"EZRA! Put up your fragging shields!"_ a thought that wasn't his own blasted into Ezra's mind.

_Oh frag, karabast, and shabla! _Totally freaking out, Ezra pushed Sabine back as his eyes popped open, and he gulped in horror _"I'm so sorry, Kanan,"_ he thought back, then slammed his shields closed between him and Kanan, completely mortified.

But that also closed him off from Sabine. Ezra gulped in air as his sense of her disappeared. But even without his link to her emotions, it didn't take a genius to comprehend the wounded look on her face. _Shit. Why can't I ever do anything right?_

Sabine stared down at Ezra in befuddled hurt_. Did I do something offensive? Is it possible to be too aggressive with a tongue? Maybe his Jedi conscience just kicked in? No. It was probably me._ "What's wrong? What did I do?"

The disappointment on her expressive face was killing him. Ezra sat up quickly, pushing her back so she sat on his thighs and away from his rapidly deflating erection. He hugged her and kissed her forehead in apology, his passionate mood lost to the flaming embarrassment. "It's not you, I swear. You were perfect. It's me. I forgot to keep my shields up between me and Kanan and he just yelled at me, clearly aware of what we were doing."

Sabine blinked a couple times and then her own cheeks burst with heat as well. Her frisky mood shrank down like someone had just thrown a bucket of ice on her. Unfortunately, she still had the damp underwear to remind her of how close she'd been to climaxing just from the friction of rubbing against him. "Oh, kriff, that's embarrassing."

Ezra buried his face in her shoulder. "I know, right?" he mumbled into her bodysuit.

Sabine sighed and wrapped her arms around his back, putting her forehead on his shoulder in return. "Oh well. Just imagine it as repayment for all the times we've stumbled upon Kanan and Hera making out," she muttered against his jacket.

Ezra's head popped up as he chuckled. He kissed her hair before encouraging her to look up at him with a finger under her chin. "You mean like the time Zeb and I practically fell on them in the cargo hold when we were chasing Chopper?"

Sabine laughed. "Which time?"

Ezra smirked. "The day we stole that TIE fighter, years ago."

"I remember that day. You still have the painting I made in your room." This had always pleased her.

Ezra grinned bashfully. "And I always will. Or at least as long as Hera let's me call that room my own, despite the fact that I have my own ship now. I don't care how stupid it makes me look. You painted it, so it's staying. I've had a lot of battles with Zeb over it, by the way. Captain Smelly thinks we should have painted over it years ago. I threatened to sic Chopper on him if he so much as dared cover a corner. Once, I even had to hold his bo-rifle hostage." Ezra's mouth curled ruefully. "He didn't like that very much, and didn't talk to me for a week, but it was worth it. Keeping any sort of connection to you is worth it; even living with a sulking, hulking, molting, purple Lasat."

_Thank the Manda I didn't have to share a room with a Lasat. _Sabine snorted in amusement, beaming at him, and kissed his cheek, letting her lips linger, whispering against it, "You keep saying things like that, Bridger, and I might just have to fall in love with you." Her tone was light and teasing, but Sabine could feel the truth of her own words in her heart. She really was falling in love with him. Maybe she was already there. Maybe she'd been there for years and just refused to see it.

_What did she just say?! _Ezra lost his breath once again. He pulled back a little as he studied her face. "Do you really mean that?" he asked quietly. Hopefully. Nearly begging, in fact.

Seeing his open expression that looked so incredibly vulnerable right now, Sabine knew she could never break his heart. She cupped his face in her hands, fingers resting on the sexy dual scars on his cheek, and met his eyes, willing him to feel her sincerity. "Yes, Ez'ika. I do mean it. You're my everything too."

_Thank the Force. _Ezra gulped and worked up the courage to say what had wanted to tumble off his tongue for years. He raised his hands and cupped her face in return. "I love you, Sabine. I have since the first day I met you. I saw you blow up a bike right under the noses of the Imps. You jumped off a roof onto a moving bike like it was nothing. You didn't shoot me when you could have. You literally picked me up and tossed me out of your chair. You blew up some TIEs like it was fun. You were relatively nice to me compared to most people who encounter a streetrat. And of course, there was how beautiful you are, but that's just the icing on the puffcake. By the end of that first day, I loved your colourful hair. I loved your big amber eyes. I loved your feisty spirit. I loved your warrior heart. I love you. With everything I am; heart, body, soul, and mind. Even my connection with the Force loves you, letting me bond with you. You are perfection. To me at least. There is NOTHING you could do that would make me stop loving you, do you hear me?" He willed her to understand that he didn't blame her for the deaths her invention had caused, something that he'd sensed earlier that she needed more confirmation on.

_Oh, stars, Ezra. _Sabine gawked and blinked at the boy who'd just taken her shattered heart and glued it back together even stronger than before. That was an incredible speech, and she'd never felt more like she was actually worth something in her life. She felt special because she understood now that Ezra thought she was. Looking at herself through his eyes helped heal a broken piece inside of her that her mother had caused when she was banished from the clan all those years ago. His words healed the piece of her that had been fractured when Ketsu abandoned her. His love restored the faith in herself that had been lost when the Duchess was used again against her family.

His words were exactly what she needed and she nearly burst into tears all over again because of them. She swallowed the urge back with difficulty and somehow managed to speak past the lump in her throat. "I do hear you, Ezra. I do." With every ounce of the ever-growing love in her heart, she pressed her mouth to his in a very gentle kiss that expressed everything she was feeling. Gratitude. Love. Acceptance. Need. Want. Home. "Thank you," she whispered against his lips, and then she pressed her forehead to his and they just breathed together, no more words needed between them.

Ezra didn't need his new bond with her to feel how much she loved him too, she was radiating it so clearly into the Force for anyone to sense, and he was humbled by it. And so grateful that she was letting him see her vulnerable side because it meant that she trusted him implicitly. He pressed a very loving kiss to her forehead, sighing in contentment as he moved his arms around her back to hug her closer. She copied him, the strong grip of her arms feeling like the most secure place in the galaxy to be.

They sat like that for a while, wrapped around each other, their heads eventually finding a comfy place on the other's shoulder. Soon enough, Sabine's breathing settled into a deep and slow pattern that indicated she'd fallen asleep.

Knowing that she needed her rest, Ezra didn't move for a long time. Not even when more arriving ships flew past or when a cold breeze picked up. He just ignored it all, pulling a little Force to him to warm them up as needed. He basked in her presence in his arms, having thought for years that this moment would never happen. At some point, his legs fell asleep, but he didn't care about that either. Sabine was all that mattered.

Ezra eventually fell into something that resembled a meditative trance, the Force swirling happily around and through him. He used the time to figure out how to separate his shields so he could feel Sabine and not Kanan, or vice versa, or both, in varying degrees. He knew it was possible, because Kanan had a bond with Hera too, so Ezra set to work with determination and started very carefully experimenting.

* * *

As the moon drew near to setting in the distant horizon, Ezra felt Kanan approaching, but he still didn't move. At this point, he wasn't even sure he could.

A minute later, his Master appeared out of the gloom. He stopped and looked down at them with a raised brow, amusement and something that felt a lot like pride and approval in their bond for him to feel. Ezra still flushed with embarrassment anyway. _"Hi."_

_"You look comfy." _Kanan teased.

Ezra snorted mentally. _"One would think. But you try putting a hundred pounds on your thighs for an hour and let me know if you can still feel your toes at the end of it."_

Kanan's mouth twitched and a strangled laugh could just be heard. _"Want some help?"_

_"Please."_

He knelt down beside them and very carefully extracted her from Ezra's arms, standing and holding her small form in his while Ezra grimaced through the process of rubbing circulation back into his legs. _Force. Kriff. Ow. Ow. Ow. _The tingling was awful, but Ezra breathed through it while Kanan did a valiant job of not laughing out loud. Mentally though…

Ezra glared at him.

_"Was it worth it?" _the bearded man laughed.

_"That's a stupid question. Of course she's worth a little pain."_

_"Then get your shebs off the ground, as Rex would say, and let's roll. The meeting starts in twenty minutes."_

_"I'm moving, I'm moving," _Ezra grumbled, but gave it a few more seconds anyway.

Once the blood flow had been restored to his feet and he could wiggle his toes inside his boots again, the boy felt confident he could stand without promptly falling right back down. Sucking in a deep breath, he got to his feet in a less than graceful, but successful move. _Ha._

Ezra took Sabine back, cuddling her against his chest. She hummed happily in her sleep, wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling back into his shoulder.

Kanan chuckled mentally again as they started walking. _"Well, we know who she prefers in her sleep."_

Ezra grinned like a dork. _"Mine. She loves me, Kanan."_ Ezra kissed the silky hair on top of her head adoringly.

_"I know. I'm very happy for the two of you. Treasure her. Love her. But never become dependent on her because you must always be ready to let her go if the Force wills it."_

Ezra nodded once in resignation. _"I know. We've already had this discussion about our views on attachments. I understand that my duty is to the Force first and my loved ones second. But that doesn't stop me from loving you all with everything I have."_

Kanan smiled a little mistily. He reached over squeezed Ezra's shoulder fondly. "_Love you too, kid. I remembered something a little while ago that made me think we weren't the only Jedi with more liberal views on the 'no attachments' rule."_

_"What's that?" _Ezra asked curiously as Sabine rubbed her face into his neck and made a tiny little sound that was almost a purr. He wanted to hear it some more. Preferably when they were alone.

_"Master Fisto once said to me and a group of other younglings, 'Never be afraid to enjoy every experience you are given to the fullest because no matter what impressions you are given at the Temple. Life is meant to be lived, not endured.'"_

_"Wow. I like that one."_

_"Yeah. Me too. Even though I forgot his words for decades, I think my subconscious didn't because I've never had a problem with changing the 'no attachment' rule to better suit how we live now." _

_"I think our method works just fine. We know our duty, but we live and love. How hard is that?"_

Kanan grinned down at him, his face mostly hidden by his dark green jaig eye mask, but his mouth could express so much, it didn't even bother Ezra all that much anymore. _"Exactly. Most of the old Jedi Masters were a bunch of stuffy old idiots."_

Ezra snorted with amusement, prompting a stirring from the girl in his arms. _Oops. Oh well, we're almost there anyway. She should probably wake up._

He looked down at her sleepily blinking face and then up to his Master, walking quietly beside him, their bonds humming softly in his soul. _My family. Not all of them, but the ones I love and need the most, no question. _Ezra was incredibly content in that moment, and he would file it away as one to treasure forever.

* * *

Sabine woke up gradually to the sensation of smooth movement, feeling very safe and loved. It was a feeling she had rarely ever felt, bringing back vague memories from her early childhood of being carried to bed by her father after he had let her stay up way too late painting with him.

Her eyes fluttered open as her arms tightened reflexively around Ezra's neck and she realized she actually was being carried. _Ever stronger than I thought, if he can carry me so effortlessly. He's not breathing hard or anything._ She had to admit it felt incredibly nice, but it wasn't in her nature to be carried anywhere. "Ezra," she murmured.

He glanced down at her and his teeth flashed in the dark as he smiled at her. "Down?"

Sabine nodded slightly, rubbing her cheek against his jacket just because. _Soft over hard. Yum. But later._ "This is nice and all, but I have legs and they work just fine."

Ezra chuckled lightly and so did Kanan, which made Sabine tense, because she hadn't realized they weren't alone. She craned her neck around, seeing the older Jedi walking beside Ezra on her blind side, and her cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment. _Curse him and his silent Jedi feet_. Now she really wanted down. "Ezra," she said warningly as she wiggled and his arms held her tighter teasingly.

_I can't help myself. I really can't. _Ezra's eyes shone with mirth as he came to a stop, swooped down and kissed her warm cheek and then let her down. Slowly. Sliding her down his front as much as possible.

Sabine gave him her best glare, which just made him smile wider. _Come on, you like it, admit it._

Her glare somehow intensified. _Or not. _

Ezra looked at Kanan. "You let a girl sit on you for hours till your legs go to sleep and then you carry her for a kilometre or two and this is the thanks you get?"

Kanan shrugged, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Females. There's just no pleasing them sometimes. Get used to it."

Sabine huffed at the two males who where blatantly making fun of her while she stood right there. "Di'kute," she muttered and started marching in the direction of the camp that was much closer than before. Actually, it was close enough that the guard probably could have seen her being carried like a child. That just wasn't acceptable at all. _Thank_ _the Force I woke up_. She was going to have to talk to Ezra about making sure her status as a badass was never questioned. A warrior Countess does NOT get carried unless they were unconscious and had two broken legs.

She called back over her shoulder at the men who were chuckling over her stomping figure. "Don't think I won't tell Hera what you just said, Kanan Jarrus. I'm sure she won't appreciate it. And Ezra, if you think there's going to be any more cuddling in the near future, you might want to hold your breath waiting for it." The chuckling came to an immediate end, making Sabine smirk to herself.

_Ach! What have I done? _Ezra jogged to catch up, then matched his strides to hers. His eyes were wide in fear and remorse as he gazed at her. "Please don't say that. I was just teasing. I've waited forever for cuddling privileges; you wouldn't take them away already, would you?"

Sabine glanced at him and her lips twitched before she snorted with suppressed laughter. _He actually believed me. He's already better trained than I thought._ Taking pity on him, she laced her fingers with his and squeezed lightly. "Ezra, you're not the only one who can tease, you know."

He blinked a couple times and then he looked vastly relieved, shaking his head at himself. "I can't believe I fell for that."

Sabine grinned. "I can."

Kanan grinned at Sabine as he appeared on Ezra's other side. "So can I."

Sabine smiled at her second father conspiratorially. "He is incredibly gullible, isn't he?" She ignored Ezra's, 'Hey!' and continued talking to Kanan. "But I wasn't kidding about telling Hera. Us girls have to stick together when it comes to keeping the menfolk in line."

Now Ezra and Kanan both said, "Hey!"

Sabine grinned at them, let go of Ezra's hand, and marched up to and past the guard like she owned the world, happy she couldn't see his face to know if he was smirking at her or not. If he was smart though, he'd keep quiet about seeing her being carried. She memorized the markings on his armour just in case rumours started flying around the camp about her so she knew who to beat up for it.

After a quick stop at the portable refresher facilities, she walked briskly to their borrowed tent, attached her armour and strapped on her second belt.

Ezra more or less followed Sabine, but Kanan broke off to join Fenn and Alrich when he spotted them.

The young Jedi waited just inside the doorway of their tent while he watched Sabine finish getting dressed in less than a minute flat with practiced ease. Even this simple act turned him on. _Who am I kidding? Just watching her breathe turns me on._ He was envisioning her doing the opposite of adding layers when she walked up to him with a raised brow, her helmet tucked under her arm.

"What's got that look in your eyes this time?" Sabine asked with a knowing smirk, noting his slightly increased inhalations and the hint of dilation in his pupils.

Ezra snaked an arm around her waist and kissed her nose playfully. "Just picturing you removing your armour instead."

She rested her hand against his chest, laughing softly as she looked up at him with amused eyes. "And everything else as well?" She deliberately leaned her hips into his and wasn't surprised at all to feel the bulge in his trousers twitch against her. _Later for that too, big boy. _

He grinned even as he flushed, pupils expanding further. _Tease. _"Oh yeah." He swooped down and stole her mouth in a brief but very thorough kiss that had her purring again.

When he pulled back, Ezra was pleased to see her eyes had gone much darker than normal. _At least I'm not alone in my misery now. _He swept an arm towards the door. "Shall we get this over with?"

Sabine took a deep breath to control her suddenly raging hormones and then inclined her head regally. "We shall." She swept out of the tent with squared shoulders and a bounce to her step.

Ezra smiled to himself as he bounded after her, catching her free hand with his own and lacing their fingers together, grateful there was no one around to see his flustered state.

Sabine looked down at their joined hands, and then smiled up at him. _Kriff it. I don't care if people see that I'm with him. They can all go take a leap out of an airlock if they don't like my adorable, loyal, and handsome Jedi. _

They walked to the command tent in companionable silence, not exactly in a hurry as they kept glancing at each other and smiling dopily.

Literally everyone was already there when Sabine and Ezra arrived, making her wince mentally, including the leaders of the various other clans that had come to help with the mission at the front of each group of similarly coloured warriors. They squished their way past way too many judgemental people and joined Kanan, Fenn, and her father right at the front of the crowd.

Bo-Katan raised an imperious brow at Sabine and Ezra. "So glad you decided to join us. We were starting to wonder."

Sabine shrugged slightly, playing it cool. "I couldn't sleep, so Ezra and I took a walk. We went further than planned. I apologize if we kept you waiting."

Bo-Katan's red eyebrows rose further, glancing from her to Ezra, who was, for once, doing a good job of keeping his mouth shut and not fidgeting, but his face was certainly darkening across the cheekbones. "I see," Bo-Katan said, her tone clearly stating that she did, indeed, see.

Sabine sighed internally. If it hadn't been obvious already, she'd basically just confirmed her intention to take Ezra as her husband. One does not simply just go for a 'walk' with a boy in the dark for hours on a desert and then let it be known to everyone unless you intended to follow through with the implications. Not that they hadn't already been open about their relationship at dinner last night, but the whole being alone thing pretty much sealed the deal.

Sabine glanced at the expressions of everyone in the tent at the implied declaration. Only her father, Fenn, and Bo-Katan portrayed actual acceptance. The others all looked either skeptical, were withholding judgment for the time being, or outright displeased. Count Onyo, in particular, looked vaguely murderous, his purple eyes flashing from his dark face. _Never did like that bastard._ But no one made any moves to draw a blaster, so Sabine considered that a win. She focused on Bo-Katan again. "I'm glad you do. Now. On to the small matter of getting rid of the Duchess once and for all..."

Bo's eyes widened and she stared at Sabine in shock. "Wait. Did you name your weapon after my sister?!"

Sabine winced. _Opps, should have kept that to myself._ "It was a series of bad decisions that I'm not proud of. We can call it something else if you want?"

Bo was speechless for at least ten seconds as she glared at Sabine. _How dare she dishonour Satine like that! __I'm going to eviscerate that little brat. She's not going to be able to walk for a week after I'm done pounding some respect into her. How could she insult her own family like that? Okay, sort of family, but still..._ A touch from Fenn on her arm brought her out of her mental snit. She sucked in a breath and forcibly calmed herself. "There's no point. We're getting rid of that thing and that will be the end of it. I just have to say that Satine was a pacifist until the very end and she would be appalled to find out that a weapon of mass destruction was named after her. I don't know what you were thinking."

Sabine glanced down at her helmet for a moment, deciding. Feeling Ezra lean a fraction closer to her gave her the courage to say her piece. She looked back at the red haired woman, meeting the piercing green eyes steadily. "I was thinking that your sister's pacifist ways led to the fall of Mandalore. She caused a civil war for shabla's sake! It was your sister's views on politics that eventually allowed the Imperials to take hold of our planet. She destroyed our people's spirit just as much as any weapon ever has. If she hadn't been a pacifist, there would never have been a need for the Republic to help our people. Maul and Death Watch should never have had the opportunity to take control. Clan Saxon should never have felt the need to ally with the Imperials just so what's left of our people weren't completely subjugated. It was your sister that was the catalyst for everything that is happening now. I don't claim to think that I could ever lead Mandalore better than anyone else, but Mandalore should never have been in the hands of a pacifist. And I know you know it. I know you were part of Death Watch because my mother was as well. I know you didn't believe in your sister's ideals, so you'd be a hypocrite if you said otherwise now." _So please don't. That won't go well for either of us. _

Everyone in the tent was basically holding their breath as they looked from Sabine to Bo-Katan, waiting for her response. This could go one of two ways. Bo-Katan could be seriously offended and challenge Sabine to a duel to the death or she would agree with Sabine and let her words against her sister slide.

Bo's fists were clenched and she was barely breathing while proverbial steam rose from her. But as she stared into Sabine's steady and resolute eyes, her shoulders dropped ever so slightly and her fists unclenched. Everyone in the room breathed again. "You're right," Bo admitted quietly. "I didn't agree with my sister. It's the reason we hardly ever spoke to each other. We were on two different sides, and in the end, we both lost and the Empire won. It's time to fix that. It's time to return Mandalore to being the home of people who are proud to call themselves Mandalorians. Proud of our warrior heritage. Proud to fight for what we believe in. And we will WIN!" Her voice rang with power and authority at the end and the tent erupted in cheers from the warriors packed within.

Sabine sighed in relief that that had turned out the way she'd hoped. _Thank the Manda. _Ezra nudged her with his foot and she glanced at him. He winked at her and smiled slightly, glancing down as she fingered the Darksabre hanging off the side of her belt. _Should I?_ she asked with her eyes. He nodded back with his own in agreement and Sabine felt an invisible weight lift from her shoulders.

She'd found the leader she sought.

Sabine had always known it wasn't herself. Bo-Katan was the rightful leader of Mandalore based on heritage. It was gratifying to know the woman lived up to Sabine's expectations.

Sabine stepped forward, holding the Darksabre out to Bo-Katan and the space instantly went silent again. "This belongs to you, My Lady. You are the true Mand'alor. The Mand'alor our people should have had leading us all along. I can't rightfully keep this anymore when I know I don't deserve to wield it. I now know that I found it so that I could pass it on to you."

Bo glanced from the sword hilt to Sabine's eyes and back again, indecision clear upon her face.

"Take it," Fenn said from beside her. "Sabine is right. You are a true leader of people and you uphold the original Mandalorian beliefs. I can think of no one better to be Mand'alor aside from Sabine, despite the fact that she doesn't believe it of herself."

Bo glanced at him, this man she'd barely known for a day but felt so connected to. Seeing the sincerity and belief in his eyes, she reached forward – the tent inhaled in anticipation - and grasped the Darksabre. It instantly felt right in her hand, like a missing piece of her soul had been returned. Bo ignited the dark blade and held it above her head triumphantly, staring at her people. "I accept this sword as vengeance for my sister from the monster who stole her and this blade from us. For my clan. And for all of Mandalore."

In the gust of relief that was exhaled by nearly everyone, Sabine went down to one knee in front of her, head bowed. "Clan Wren vows loyalty to Duchess Bo-Katan of Clan and House Kryze, our new and rightful Mand'alor."

Fenn Rau sank to a knee as well, looking up adoringly at the woman who had so thoroughly captured his heart. "As the sole remaining Protector, I pledge my loyalty to you and vow to remain in your service for as long as I am of able body and mind like the Protectors originally did for previous Mand'alors."

One by one, the leaders of every clan knelt, their members following suit immediately.

"Clan and House Vizsla vows our loyalty."

"Clan Awuad also vows loyalty."

"Clan Onyo vows loyalty."

"Clan Elder vows loyalty."

"Clan Rook vows loyalty."

And so it continued until every clan leader in the tent had their say.

Bo looked down at all the bowed heads and felt somewhat overwhelmed. The only two people left in the tent not kneeling were the Jedi, but as she glanced at them, they both nodded at her respectfully, even the blind one. _How DID he do that?_ That was good enough, she supposed. Her sister's Jedi, Kenobi, had been a reasonable sort as well. Fenn's example of showing support for the Jedi was something she would follow. Mandalore needed to give up their hatred of the Jedi; especially with so few of them left. Supporting Sabine's choice to marry one would be a good first step.

"I accept your loyalty. Thank you." Bo-Katan's voice rang through the tent and everyone stood as one and cheered again. She slashed the Darksabre through the air, getting their attention before turning it off and hooking it to her belt. "Now is not the time for celebrating. We have a battle to win first and no more time to waste standing here. To your ships!"

There was a mass exodus out of the tent in a vaguely orderly fashion with a feeling of excitement in the air. Sabine, Ezra and Kanan waited patiently for the majority to exit. Bo-Katan swept past them with Fenn Rau at her side. "You three are with me," she said as she passed.

They dutifully followed. Sort of.

Sabine glanced back at her father, who was staying behind, with a few others, keeping an eye on their progress from the Command Center. His eyes were worried. "I will come back, Father. Please believe that."

He smiled wanly. "I believe you will always try your hardest."

Sabine gave him an equally sad smile. "That has ever been the truth." Their identical eyes met for one more heartfelt second before Sabine turned and left the tent.

Ezra was waiting for her just outside. They walked together as they followed in the wake of the others. (Kanan had caught up to Fenn and Bo-Katan.) "I can tell you feel better now, now that you don't have the Darksabre anymore," he said quietly.

Sabine glanced at him and nodded slightly. "I was never comfortable with the thought of ruling the entirety of the Mandalorian people. It's going to be hard enough for me to adjust to the idea that I'm now the ruler of my clan. I know Father will help where he can, but he's not from the Wren line, so, no matter how wise he is, our clan can choose not to follow him. They'll listen to him, but they could disobey a direct order from him if they wished. From me? Not a chance. Unless someone challenges me to take the position. And that's usually a fight to the death."

Ezra gasped. "Please tell me you're kidding this time too."

She shook her head once. "No. I'm afraid not. But I wouldn't worry about it too much. I have no intention of being taken down in a duel."

As they walked up the ramp of Bo-Katan's Kom'rk fighter, Ezra gave her his best disbelieving eyes. "Not worry? Of course I'm going to worry. I always worry about you when you're doing something dangerous."

Sabine laughed softly and patted his cheek as they stopped in front of a closed door. "You're so cute." Since they were the only ones in the cargo hold, she grabbed his jacket with her free hand in a repeat of yesterday's move and pulled him down to her, kissing him hard, finishing with a nip to his lower lip. _So much better now that we know what we're doing._ Letting him go, she smirked at his wide eyed look. "Don't get yourself killed either, Bridger. It would make me very unhappy."

Ezra nodded dumbly as Sabine hit the button to close the ramp and another button to upon the door and walked through, leaving Ezra floundering on his feet as he tried to follow her. _Does she even know how much she rocks my world when she kisses me?_ And not just a peck either. Her tongue had definitely been in his mouth. And to more or less declare that she worried about him too, but in her own badass way, was enough to send a jolt to his heart and have all of his blood cells diving southwards.

Finally getting his brain to more or less communicate with his lower limbs, Ezra stumbled down the hallway after her, eyes glued to her perfect ass in that skintight bodysuit. She strolled into the common area like nothing was going on. Ezra couldn't say the same; his pants were excessively tight in the crotch area again and he had no desire to go in there looking like that.

As the ship's engines rumbled under his feet as they warmed up, Ezra leaned against a wall for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm himself back down. He started thinking of every non sexy thing he could imagine; death, slime, nerfs, cold showers, Vader.

He glanced down a few seconds later. _Yep. We're good to go. _

Ezra stepped around the corner and to the doorway, immediately bouncing off of Kanan, who'd just been about to come out.

Ezra almost fell over.

Kanan caught him with the Force in a swift move that no would ever see, and then handed his Padawan his helmet and jetpack that he'd left in the ship yesterday as if Ezra hadn't almost just fallen right back out of the common room.

_"Thanks. I'm a klutz today." _

_"No problem. I can tell you're a little preoccupied."_

_"Understatement. That girl is driving me nuts."_

_"You'll learn to think past it. Eventually." _Kanan smirked at him knowingly.

_"Thanks," _Ezra said, mentally rolling his eyes. He lifted the jetpack over his head and settled it onto his shoulders with an uncomfortable roll.

They moved further into the common room, to join the large group of warriors wearing blue and silver. Fenn fit right in. Sabine stood out like a sore thumb in both outlandish colours and lack of height. Ezra loved it. _Perfect, beautiful girl._

As they walked, Kanan pointed with a thumb over his shoulder at the jetpack already sitting on his back. "You have any tips for me?" he asked glibly. "It looks like I get to wear one now too."

Ezra felt the ship take off, engines still sounding not quite right, but someone obviously thought they would do for now. (Hera would be appalled.) He grinned at Kanan, eyes twinkling for the benefit of their now listening audience of Mandos. "My only advice is to use the Force to steer. I don't know how they do it without. These things should be classified as suicide attempts."

Kanan snorted, bumping him with his shoulder. "I'll keep that in mind."

Sabine bumped him from the other side as he stopped beside her. The corner of her mouth was drawn up into an amused smirk. "Hey. We're just more talented than you," she said with a teasing wiggle of her brows.

Ezra smirked back, looking at Sabine's artistic armour pointedly. "That is very true. I can barely draw a stick person."

It only took a few seconds for everyone to be laughing to the point of tears, grateful for the little bit of humour in a time of way too much seriousness.

* * *

Of course, ten minutes later, when everyone but the pilot on Bo-Katan's ship jumped out of the cargo hold, Kanan flew straight and true in his jetpack. Ezra growled in disgust. "Why do I always look like a bumbling idiot compared to everyone else?" he muttered under his breath. Sabine and Chopper heard him, of course, since she'd linked them via the comms in their helmets.

Chopper beeped something along the lines of, "Because you're a foolish meatbag too pathetic to figure anything out?"

Ezra tried not to take that one too much to heart, since Chopper had been insulting him for years, but it still hurt.

"Leave him alone, Chopper, or I'll take you apart and toss something vital out an airlock," Sabine warned.

The droid grumbled out a, "Fine. Sorry, Sabine."

_How come he only listens to the girls? _Ezra whined to himself.

But then her next words brought his mood up drastically and the annoying astromech from who-knew-which of the seven hells was forgotten.

"I think your occasional awkwardness is cute, babe. Don't stress over it. You're graceful when you really need to be. Have you seen yourself with a lightsabre lately? It's kriffin' hot."

Ezra flushed with pleasure while Chopper made the equivalent of gagging noises. Ezra turned off the link to the droid menace and just basked in the pleasure of Sabine's words. "Thank you, Sabine. If you were trying to make me love you more, you just succeeded."

_Not really, but I'll take it. _Now Sabine was feeling all warm and glowy inside. "You keep talking like that, Ezra, and you're going to find yourself a very happy boy next time we get some alone time."

Ezra gulped, about a hundred different fantasies of him and Sabine doing naughty things all trying to take precedence at once and his pants getting rather tight yet again. At least this time, he'd remembered to keep his shields up between him and Kanan. With a little effort, he consciously lowered his voice to something he hoped sounded sexy. "Everyone knows a true gentleman takes care of the lady first. It would be my greatest pleasure to do so."

Sabine blinked as his rumbled words went straight to her core and she practically trembled with want. _Holy nerfherders, who would have thought a day ago that Ezra could do that to me?_ She cleared her throat. "Maybe we should shelve this conversation for later. We're almost at Saxon's Star Destroyer anyway."

Ezra glanced at the ISD that was dwarfed by the massive dome surrounding the city of Sundari, before looking back at Sabine, who flew just ahead of him. Her slender figure was much more pleasant to look at, hands down. He could stare at her for hours and be perfectly content. (He'd actually done so while she was painting or sketching and not paying attention to him, so he knew this for a fact.) "Sure, cyar'ika. But there's no way I'm forgetting to take this up where we left off when I get the chance."

Sabine smiled like a very satisfied tooka inside her helmet. _Neither am I._ Now that she'd decided she wanted Ezra, the young woman didn't see any reason to take it slow. If the last four years hadn't been enough of a test of the strength of their friendship, then nothing was. "I'm holding you to that, Bridger."

The words were like a fortifying promise between them as they flew the last few metres to their next, possibly deadly, mission.

* * *

_Mando'a translations:_

_Shebs - butt, ass, etc. _

_Di'kute – idiots. _


	6. I Am Not Dar'manda!

**A/N: Well, here's the Sabine and Ezra focused portions of this chapter for you, but I HIGHLY recommend reading the other version of this chapter in the much bigger 'Kriff That' story. It's well over 3000 words longer and there's not much in the way of squidgy extra ships in there, just a lot of battle type stuff. :P **

* * *

**I Am Not Dar'manda!:**

Still feeling flushed and tingly from her rather naughty banter with Ezra, Sabine moved to poke her head above the decking of Saxon's Star Destroyer, to look into the hangar. But at the last possible millisecond, Kanan stopped her with a hand on her arm, shaking his head adamantly.

She took that to mean that he sensed people up there. With a quick flurry of hand signals, she asked him how many and he replied two dozen.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Sabine still had to stick her head above deck to see if this was the right hangar. She indicated that she was going up very cautiously, and did so.

Poking just the bare minimum of her helmet above deck, she took a mental picture and then ducked back down a second later.

After hearing no cries of alarm from the troopers above, she breathed in relief at her success. Then she evaluated the mental image she'd memorized.

As Kanan had said, there was a compliment of troops standing in formation in the middle of the hangar full of crates, a couple of midsized transports, a fancy lambda class shuttle, and at the back, one modified Walker.

_Gotcha. _

She told her little group what she saw via the comms. Kanan, who was helmetless, would just have to eavesdrop on Ezra's thoughts or whatever he did in this kind of situation. (Some of his magical all knowing ways in the past made so much more sense now that she knew that he and Ezra mind talked to each other.) "We've got the right hangar. I see the Walker, but the weapon (She refrained from calling it the Duchess out loud so Bo-Katan didn't get any more pissed off at her.) isn't attached. It has to be nearby though; it's kriffing heavy. There's also a squad of troopers up there, waiting for us."

"Lovely," Ezra commented sarcastically.

"I'll let Fenn know," Bo said calmly. "We'll deal with the troopers when Fenn makes his move."

"Understood," Sabine said.

They waited for Bo-Katan to talk to Fenn.

From their location, they could see the faint glow of explosions happening inside the thick dome, indicating that the simultaneous attack on Sundari was going off well. One of the Imperial facilities being targeting was the Academy. Sabine wasn't sure how she felt about that since the school didn't hold much in the way of fond memories for her except for her friendship with Ketsu. But on the other hand, the building was practically a national monument and the students within were probably innocent in this war. Bo-Katan had promised the living quarters would not be targeted and any who wished to escape would be allowed to do so. At this time of the morning, the rest of the facility would be empty. If any of the students were stupid enough to fight back, then they were on the wrong side of the war anyway.

Then again, Sabine had personally blown up the science labs in her attempt to destroy the Duchess in the first place, so blowing up the rest of the school was just a fitting step up.

A minute of unheard communication later, the Mand'alor said, "Get ready. Distraction imminent. When you hear the boom, we go in."

"There are many crates to use as cover," Sabine supplied.

"Helpful," Ezra said brightly.

They spent the next twenty seconds needlessly checking their weapons and supply of explosives, just to pass the time that seemed to drag impossibly slowly.

And then they heard the BOOM.

In only seconds, Sabine, Ezra, Kanan, Chopper, and Bo-Katan all flew up onto the decking and they dashed into a secluded hiding spot behind some handy crates.

They found the troopers no longer in formation as a few had been knocked off their feet or staggered into each other. In the enemy's moment of weakness, the Rebels opened fire, taking out nearly half the squad in the first few seconds. The rest of the troopers dove for cover and it became a game of shots exchanged.

_"We don't have time for this," _Ezra thought to Kanan.

_"Then let's change the game, shall we?"_

With only a glance at each other, Master and Padawan started circling the outside edge of the hangar in opposite directions while Sabine and Bo-Katan kept the attention of the troopers with a steady hail of shots. Using crates as cover and dashing or jumping the spaces in between, the two Jedi snuck up on every trooper and stunned them.

When there were no more opponents to deal with, everyone converged in the center of the hangar amidst the bodies of the troopers.

"Well, that was fun," Ezra said, grinning under his helmet.

"Agreed," Bo said, seeing the advantage to having Jedi on her team. A good Mandalorian could have pulled off the same maneuver, but the Jedi had done it much faster than a normal human could have.

"We have to keep moving," Kanan pointed out pragmatically. He had no desire to run into any more obstacles than absolutely necessary and the longer they were in the ship, the more time was had by the enemy to get in his way.

"Right," Sabine nodded.

And with that, they split up.

Ezra, Kanan, and Chopper dashed off towards the inner part of the ship, hopefully stealthily, but willing to do whatever was necessary to get to the main computer that linked the ship to the Imperial database so that Chopper could delete everything pertaining to the Duchess weapon.

"Good luck," Sabine called over her private comm to Ezra as he hurried away.

"Thanks, gorgeous," he replied. "You too."

Sabine felt herself blushing yet again and was grateful for her helmet. If only she'd known that Ezra was capable of making her feel so special, she was pretty sure she would have pursued him years sooner; dorky teenage stage, stupid flirting, and all.

At least he had hair back then.

_I really need to convince him to let it grow back. I miss those gorgeous blue locks. _

She and Bo-Katan ran past the red painted AT-DP Walker that had been modified to carry the Duchess and boarded the lift to an upper level beside the hangar, still hoping that the weapon was being worked on nearby.

She was right. The familiar donut shaped power generator was sitting out in the open, not far from the lift. It wasn't exactly the same as her model, but it was close enough to be unmistakable as the thing she'd invented. Sabine cringed to see it whole again and the ghosts of remembered screams whispered through her mind.

Holstering her blasters upon seeing that the area was clear, Sabine gestured at her greatest regret. "There it is," she said quietly to Bo-Katan.

Bo also holstered her blasters and they walked towards the weapon. "It doesn't seem so dangerous like this," she said, eyeballing the object that had somehow turned warriors into ashes. "So how do you plan to destroy it?"

Sabine glared at the machine, reluctant to get closer to it. "I was thinking about blowing it up, but I tried that last time, and they somehow managed to rebuild it. I need to come up with something a little more permanent, apparently."

Bo-Katan unhooked the Darksabre from her belt and looked at it. "What about this?"

Sabine raised a brow under her helmet. "That... just might work. It'll be dangerous though. We won't have a lot of time to run for it."

Bo-Katan's voice was amused as she said, "If danger isn't your middle name, you're not a Mandalorian."

"I guess I qualify then," Sabine laughed. "Ezra is always whining about how I'm always running towards the danger."

"About him," Bo-Katan said hesitantly. "Are you prepared to deal with the fallout of marrying a Jedi? There's going to be more than a few unhappy people who won't be willing to excuse his heritage, no matter how much he's helped us."

Sabine sighed. "I know. I was almost one of them, once, when I first found out that Kanan and Ezra were Jedi. Don't even ask me how Ezra won me over, because I have no idea."

Bo-Katan chuckled. "My sister said the exact same thing about her Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Sabine's helmet whipped around and she stared at the older woman in shock. "What? Your sister and Kenobi were a thing?"

"Without question. Aside from bickering like an old married couple whenever they were together, I caught them making out once, when we were all soooo much younger. That was after Kenobi and his Master had been her protectors for almost an entire year and they were being reassigned to a new mission. I can tell you, they most definitely didn't like the idea of being parted."

"I can't imagine why," Sabine said dryly, thinking of how she'd feel if Ezra were to leave her for long periods of time.

Suddenly, a low buzzing sound filled the area and swiftly got louder. "What's that sound?" Bo asked, hooking the Darksabre to her belt as she moved forward cautiously.

_Shit, shit, shit! _Sabine almost froze in fear as memories assaulted her. _Not again!_ "Oh no. It's been activated!" And then her feet were inspired and she moved to rush the last metre to the Duchess to try and turn it off.

She didn't make it.

An electrical charge burst from the weapon and struck her and Bo-Katan.

It felt like her bones were being fried and her skin was on fire. It was agony. The worst pain she'd ever felt. And that was saying something, since she'd been shot more than once and broken a bone or two over the years.

It was all she could do not to scream.

* * *

Ezra and Kanan made quick work of the trip to the computer room. They'd only been spotted by one small squad of troopers and they'd taken care of them as swiftly as possible. Ezra had pulled all of their blasters too him and neatly sliced and diced them as they flew towards him, while Kanan had grabbed the Imps with the Force and tossed them against the nearest wall, knocking them all out.

It was a move they'd perfected over the years of raiding and escaping from Imperial facilities, and they were quite proud of it.

The computer room had a couple of techs working in it and only one guard on the door. Ezra took care of the guard with a Force enhanced punch to the helmet. He immediately slumped against the wall, unconscious. _Too easy. _After relieving him of his blaster rifle, he threw him down the hallway with a big Force push, until he hit a wall with a thump and sliding down to the floor bonelessly. _Okay, that might have been a little much. Oh well._

At the same time, Kanan opened the door with the Force, not bothering to wait for Chopper to do it.

"What are you...?!" came from inside the room before the male voice was quickly silenced by Kanan.

As Ezra walked into the room, carrying his new prize, he saw Kanan stunning the second officer and the man slumping over his console. Kanan twirled his blaster around his finger and holstered it with a grin in Ezra's direction.

Ezra chuckled. "That never gets old."

Kanan grinned wider and shrugged. "Once a gunslinger, always a gunslinger." He glanced at Chopper, who'd followed Ezra in. "Okay, Chop, do your thing. Find anything pertaining to the 'Duchess' or 'Arc Pulse Generator' and make it disappear forever."

"Yes, boss," Chopper beeped sarcastically, disgusted at being told his mission yet again.

Ezra suddenly gasped and almost collapsed as searing pain shot through his entire body and Kanan wavered as the pain kicked back through their bond. _Force, Sabine, what are they doing to you? _He hated to do it, but to function he had to; Ezra almost completely blocked his bond to Sabine.

"What is it, Ezra?" Kanan said softly, hurrying over and putting a hand on Ezra's shoulder, pouring strength into him through their bond.

Breathing heavily, Ezra straightened up. "Sabine. It's Sabine," he gasped.

Kanan squeezed his shoulder. "Go. Help her. I can hold the room."

Ezra nodded once and then took off, back the way he'd come, running as fast as the Force could lend wings to his feet. _I'm coming, Sabine. Hold on. _He kept his bond with her almost completely closed so that he could focus, but it was killing him that she was in pain and he wasn't there to save her. He wished he could take her pain and siphon it into the Force, but he couldn't do it and move at the same time. At the moment, he figured it was more important that he save her from whatever was hurting her.

He tried comming her on their private channel, but he got no response and had to assume that she either wasn't wearing her helmet or whatever was hurting her had shorted out the comm systems. Not good.

* * *

Above the sound of her own brain cells frying, Sabine vaguely heard the sound of a door opening and a voice saying, "Stay back, Captain."

White boots came into her line of vision from her prone position on the floor and the excruciating agony finally eased off as the whine of the Duchess faded away.

"Sabine Wren," the voice belonging to the boots said condescendingly. "You truly are brilliant. Except for thinking you could infiltrate my ship unnoticed. Sadly, as much as I would like to end your life, I need you alive. You are going to upgrade your little experiment and deliver a weapon that operates at its full potential."

Rage inspired her abused body to move and she shoved her helmet off her head and stared up at the light haired man she assumed was the next Saxon bastard trying his best to murder her. _Just get in line._ "Never!" she spat, raising herself up onto one hand and feeling her still twitching muscles tremble in protest. "I'd rather die than help you, mir'osik!"

"Oh, I'm sure that will happen sooner or later, dar'manda bitch. But for now, let's see if I could persuade you," Saxon's ice blue eyes promised more pain and death.

Sabine glared back at the traitorous shabuir wearing Imperial armour and forced herself to her feet. (She refused to lie on the ground in front of him any longer.) "I am not dar'manda!" she spat in his face despite the considerable height difference. "My clan formally accepted me back months ago. And since you killed my mother with this weapon that I never should have made, I am now the Countess of Clan Wren! I will have vengeance on the Saxon clan for everything they have taken from mine!"

Saxon seemed only slightly taken aback by her words, before a light of glee lit his eyes. "Sooo, my little trap caught the Countess, did it? That turned out even better than I hoped."

_Shabuir! I'm going to slaughter him until his entrails become his extrails. _Sabine snarled at him and was just about to leap on him and pummel him to death when the Super Commando Captain stepped up. "Governor, stop. This is too much. I understand using the weapon against rebels, but if she makes it more powerful, how will we prevent the Empire from using it against ALL Mandalorians?" She wondered what clan he was from. It couldn't be the Saxon clan, or he wouldn't dare to question the head of the clan. Unless he had a death wish.

Saxon was incensed, his face turning red with rage. "I already told you my plans! I am the Empire! Palpatine has shown me the way to true power." The mental image that brought made Sabine shudder at the squidgy thought. "If you can't be trusted to support me, then you deserve this as much as she does," he snarled at his Captain.

Sabine had half a second to process what he meant, but by then it was too late. Before she could stop the pale maniac, he pushed a button on his vambrace and the Duchess powered back up, electricity targeting the beskar armour on those in the room once again.

Sabine cried out and fell to the floor again, unable to stand through the pain. The Captain also fell, his cries anguished, and Bo-Katan whimpered on the floor beside her. (She'd never gotten up yet.)

Saxon laughed evilly, his voice ringing in mocking echoes through her head. "This is not enough power to kill you; just enough to teach you a lesson. But in the end, all of Mandalore will bow to me."

"Not while I'm alive," Sabine said through clenched teeth under her breath.

She thought she heard Bo-Katan and the Captain both say, "Nor I," but the agony was building again and her ears were ringing, so she couldn't be sure.

And the thought that the Captain was willing to change sides was rather ludicrous, so she immediately assumed she'd been hearing things.

* * *

Ezra's journey to Sabine was delayed when he came to an intersection and was suddenly caught between two large squads of troopers. _Karabast. I don't need this poodoo right now. Sabine needs me. _

He ducked back around the corner and then, peeking around the edge, emptied the rifle he'd just acquired into one of the squads, laying them flat with ruthless head shots.

Tossing that to the side, he pulled his blaster and lit his lightsabre at the same time and charged around the corner, running right at the second squad. His blaster sang and his green lightsabre was a blur as he returned shots from where they came. He was so in tune with the Force and so determined, the troopers didn't stand a chance against the blur of motion that was Ezra Bridger.

Two minutes after first encountering the troopers, it was over and Ezra was once again sprinting towards his love, leaving about forty bodies in his wake.

He'd deal with the regret later.

Kanan had taught him that a Jedi always did their best to leave their opponents alive whenever possible. In most cases, Ezra was all for that philosophy. Today was no longer one of those cases.

Ezra finally reached the hangar after what felt like an eternity.

What Ezra wanted to do was charge up to the next level where he felt Sabine was with guns blazing, since he could sense she was once again in extreme pain, but a sudden word of caution from Kanan made him pause.

_"Settle down for a second and assess the situation. Don't make it worse."_

_"Yes, Master."_

Forcing himself to take in a big breath to help calm his mind and heart, Ezra then looked up at the bottom of the lift that appeared to be the only way into the workshop area on the second level. Raising a hand, he concentrated on the lift and made it lower a couple metres and then he jumped up onto the platform.

And then he listened, since Sabine's pain seemed to have stopped again and something in the Force (aside from Kanan) was telling him to wait. _Perhaps this was something that Sabine needed to do on her own?_ He didn't like it, but Ezra heeded his instincts.

* * *

Sabine was once again gasping for air and praying for strength as the Duchess came to a stop.

"Are you impressed by how well your weapon works?" Saxon taunted. He pressed another button on his gauntlet and two regular stormtroopers ran into the room. All three of them pointed their blasters at Bo-Katan, who was in worse shape than Sabine, since she had a lot more beskar on her than Sabine did. "I believe you can do better. Help me to increase the range of the weapon, or she will die."

Sabine struggled to her feet again, resolve growing in her. The more than half baked idea that had occurred to her hours ago was finalizing itself in her mind; all of her precautionary prep work for this moment coming to fruition. "Stop! I'll do what you want," she said to placate the Saxon bastard for the time she needed to accomplish her task.

"Sabine, don't," Bo said weakly as she struggled up onto her feet as well. _Don't help that piece of filth traitor._ At least she'd managed to get her helmet off too, before the latest onslaught from the perhaps appropriately named Duchess, or she wasn't sure she'd even be conscious right now.

Sabine ignored her and went to the weapon, accessing the computer system. She frowned in concentration as she swiftly familiarized herself with the new computer they'd given it, and then she changed the command codes and linked the computer to her wrist computer, downloading the new algorithms in just moments that she'd written hours ago on a whim while eating dinner. She also left Saxon his link to the computer, because if this was going to happen, she wanted him to do it to himself.

Captain Hark had also forced his body back into a standing position, unwilling to let the females outdo him. His bleary focus settled on Countess Kryze first, a vague sense of concern for the older but incredibly powerful woman crossing his mind. She might technically be his enemy, but he had always respected her for her determined upholding of her values as a Mandalorian.

He shouldn't have worried; the redheaded dynamo was already looking steady on her feet and ready to stop the proceedings if she had to, fingering the hilt of what Jett immediately recognized as the Darksabre. His eyes widened in surprise. _Whadayaknow, the Countess has the Darksabre now. I wonder if she challenged Sabine for it, or if the girl gave it to her? _

Jett knew that Sabine had been in possession of the Darksabre as recently as yesterday, having seen her using it during her mission to appropriate her father. But there had been no word of her claiming to be the Mand'alor in the months that she'd had it. (And that was something no one would have missed.) Now that it was in the possession of someone else meant that a long running power vacuum had finally been filled.

_Whoa. That means Kryze is now The Mand'alor. I hope. Also a Duchess. Mandalore should be happy to bow to her rule. She's certainly better than Maul. Or Gar Saxon. _

Jett smiled in satisfaction. He could now honourably follow her with a guilt free conscience. It was one of the tenets of the Resol'nare, after all; rally to any cause without question when called upon by the Mand'alor.

He turned his gaze to the younger woman next, admiringly. The girl's strength was impressive after taking two hits from the weapon. He'd had just one, and he still felt like he'd rather throw up and pass out than stand there like nothing was wrong. _I wonder if she's doing what she says she is, or if she's playing Saxon?_

_Please let it be the latter. I really don't want to get zapped to death. That footage from the test run was some of the most brutal deaths I've ever seen. _

Jett thought about running for it, but that was quickly squashed. He needed to see how this was going to play out. If Saxon won this little mind game, then he was already as good as dead anyway.

"You're doing the right thing, Sabine," Saxon said as she was working. "This weapon of yours... It can unite the Houses. It can bring peace."

Sabine shot him a look of disgust. "As long as our people are on their knees before you and your Emperor."

"Mandalore must adapt to survive. Would you rather we destroy ourselves in a fight that CANNOT be won?"

_Yes, I would_. But she didn't believe they couldn't win. As a united force, Mandalorians far outclassed whatever the Empire could throw at them. Their problem in the past had been that they weren't working together. Now, under a proper Mand'alor, they were. She doubted Saxon was aware of just how many clans were currently attacking Imperial Headquarters right now. Bo-Katan had already brought more Mandalorian Houses together to fight for their freedom then any leader had managed in the last hundred years. The true-to-her-heritage Duchess was the only weapon Mandalore needed to make everything right again.

She longed to tell him this and gloat childishly, but for now, she had to keep Saxon relatively happy and that meant more or less playing along with his little power trip. "At least we'd die free, as TRUE Mandalorians." She stepped back from the Duchess, raising her hands in supplication. "It's done. The weapon is at full power now, but I'm begging you... DON'T use it."

"I'll take that into consideration." His tone clearly said otherwise.

_I hope you enjoy what you're about to get, you fragger, _Sabine thought maliciously.

He smirked in perverse glee and then hit the button on his vambrace.

Sabine suddenly remembered that Ezra was wearing an Imperial helmet, painted by hers truly, and she winced. _Kriff, I hope he manages to get it off before it hurts him. _

And then another had her eyes widening even further. _Kanan's mask is made of plastoid too!_

_Ezra! Frag, I hope you're listening to me right now! Take off your helmet! Tell Kanan too!_

The Duchess activated again, its whining filling the room, and its rays of energy seeking targets. It found them in the plastoid alloy of Saxon's and the stormtroopers' armour and then continued out of the room. It was now set to seek out targets as far as a kilometre away in all directions, meaning it would take out every trooper in the entire Star Destroyer.

She looked down at the man now writhing on the floor at her feet and nearly out-of-control glee at seeing him suffer filled her. "This isn't enough power to kill you! Just to make you suffer! How does it feel?!" Her voice dripped with scorn and hatred and her eyes were hard.

"Sabine, stop!" rang out from two voices at once.

* * *

Ezra listened and waited.

Kanan sent a mental question mark, and Ezra sent back a mental shrug, implying he wasn't sure what was going on at the moment, but no one was screaming in pain right now, so that was a start.

It sounded like Sabine was doing what the speaker (whom he assumed was Tiber Saxon) wanted. But he knew his Sabine, and he trusted her not to do what it sounded like she was. Which meant she was probably doing the opposite and changing the Duchess to take out Imperial armour instead, like had been suggested in the meeting last night. And explained her obsessive calculations on the datapad.

Through his bond with her, he suddenly felt Sabine's concern for him, so, with a mental grimace in hopes that he was doing the right thing, he jumped past her light mental shield and listened in on her thoughts.

_"Ezra! Frag, I hope you're listening to me right now! Take off your helmet! Tell Kanan too!"_

It took him a moment to figure out why, but then he quickly took off his helmet and placed it quietly at his feet beside him. _"Kanan! Drop your mask!" _

It wasn't a moment too soon, for the Duchess activated again, throwing a blue glue above his head and electrical streaks flew through the air. One hit the helmet and it actually jumped and smoked.

* * *

_"Why?" _Kanan asked even as he did what Ezra 'suggested'. And then a second later, after watching his mask and the armour on the bodies of the troopers sizzle with electricity in the Force… _"Oh. Yeah. That would have sucked."_

Abandoning the mask to its fate, the elder Jedi turned his head. "Come on, Chop. I hope you're done. It's time to go."

"I'm finished," the droid beeped even as he disconnected from the computer system and then went flying out the door as fast as he could roll.

* * *

Ezra stared at his helmet wide eyed for a moment. _"Yep. That would most definitely have sucked."_ Shaking himself into action, he leapt up into the room above his head.

"Sabine, stop!" he called. He couldn't let her torture the thousands of troopers that lived on the ISD. It just wasn't right. A quick death was one thing, but this... This was just cruel.

He glanced at Bo-Katan, who'd called out the same thing at the same time, before focusing on Sabine. All that torture must have unhinged her a little, because her eyes were filled with maniacal righteousness.

"Mandalore must be free!" she said fiercely, turning her focus to him and off the writhing man on the ground.

Ezra ran over to her through the blue lightning streaks of energy that went past him harmlessly and put his hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes. "It will be, I promise. But this isn't the way to do it, and you know it."

Sabine blinked, sanity returning to her eyes. She glanced down at the three men contorted on the decking and then looked shocked at what she had done. "Kriff," she whispered. "You're right, Ezra. I'm sorry."

He brushed her cheek tenderly. "It's okay, Sabine." He held out his lightsabre for her. "It's time to finally put this behind you."

Sabine stared at the lightsabre for a moment. _Yes, it is time. _She grabbed it, ignited the glowing green blade, and then slashed through the spinning weapon.

Then, just to make sure it stayed dead this time, she pushed the lightsabre into the side for half a minute, superheating the power core. "This is for my mother and brother," she said softly. And then, glancing at Bo-Katan, she slashed it one more time. "For Mandalore," she cried.

"For Mandalore," Bo-Katan, the Captain, and Ezra repeated.

Sabine shot a quick look of surprise at the Captain who was astonishingly still here.

The machine still tried to function, but the energy shooting out now was targeting electrical systems and running through the walls. A computer consol blew up, startling them, and then a bright orange fluid started leaking out of the screaming weapon.

"That can't be good," Ezra said as Sabine gave him back his lightsabre.

Sabine bent down and grabbed her helmet off the floor and plunked it on her head. "It's not. Time to go everybody." She nudged Saxon with a toe. "Except you, you Saxon aruetii." She whipped off a pair of binders from the back of his belt that he probably meant to use on her and snapped them around a wrist. She dragged him bodily along the floor, put the empty binder around a support column on the Duchess, and then closed it around his other wrist. "You can die with the weapon that you never should have used on my clan," she said coldly.

Ezra thought about stopping her for only half a second and then decided it wasn't worth it. The moron was fated to die anyway after everything he'd done to Sabine. She needed this closure and Ezra was willing to let her have it, brutal death or not.

Bo turned to the Commando Captain that was staring at Sabine and Ezra with what she assumed was either horror or admiration under his helmet. "If you value your men at all, you might want to evacuate the ship. This thing is going to blow. Oh, and you might want to consider changing your alliance back to the people you belong to. It's not going to be very healthy for the Imps around here anymore. And that's your Mand'alor speaking."

Jett sucked in an audible breath and nodded once after tearing his gaze off the girl who'd far exceeded his hopes of her and the boy in orange he was ninety-nine percent sure was the one who'd kicked him out of the transport yesterday. "Yes, My Lady. I'll get them. And my allegiance was already in question before this. I'm happy to return to my proper place as a Mandalorian. I did not like Tiber Saxon," he finished as an explanation.

Sabine, Bo-Katan, and Ezra were left gawking at the man as he spun around and dashed out of the room from the same door he'd entered it, followed by the troopers who'd just dragged themselves off the floor.

"Did that just happen?" Sabine asked Bo-Katan.

Bo shrugged as she bent down to pick up her helmet. "Anything is possible. And that one is obviously smart enough to know follow the winning side."

"Speaking of smart enough," Ezra pointed out, "Perhaps we should leave as well?"

The girls nodded in their helmets and they all took off for the lift, jumping down to it.

They ignored the swearing and shouting coming from the left behind Tiber Saxon.

Ezra scooped up his helmet from the lift floor and called out to his beloved Master as he and the female flyers jumped down to the hangar floor, not bothering to try and make the lift function. _"Kanan. The weapon's power core's been breached. This whole place is going up. Get out of there."_

_"The data's wiped and Chopper and I are all ready on the way to the hangar. I have a whole herd of shaky troopers on my tail."_ Kanan didn't sound worried.

Ezra smirked as he waited at the hole in the floor for Kanan; he wasn't leaving without him. _"You might want to run a little faster. Things are going up as we speak. Sabine's enjoying it though,"_ Ezra said in amusement as he watched her watch things go boom all around them. The Walker, the transports, the consuls in the walls, even some of the crates; if it could, it was exploding.

"I'm glad someone's getting a kick out of this," Kanan said out loud as he ran up with Chopper right on his heels. "I can feel the energy crackling around me, and it's not a good feeling."

"We should probably go then," Ezra said dryly before they jumped out of the hangar as a group and flew down the underside of the Star Destroyer.

* * *

When they met up with Fenn's group in the early morning darkness, who looked like they were only one or two members short of what they'd started with, Ezra asked the Protector he now considered one of his close friends, "How was your mission?"

Fenn sounded quite satisfied as he said over the comm, "Successful. Most of the troopers on board must have shown up to try and take us out. I'm sure we were outnumbered thirty to one to begin with, but as you can see, we won."

Ezra and Sabine chuckled at his smug tone.

Behind them, the Star Destroyer rumbled and shook with increasingly louder explosions as more and more systems were attacked by what was left of the Duchess.

"There's two more ISD's incoming," Chopper beeped over the comms. "And more flyers."

"Saxon or someone must have called for reinforcements," Bo-Katan said grimly as they all paused in midair and looked back towards Sundari and saw the Star Destroyers flying around and over the city's protective dome.

They also saw a group of flyers in white armour now quickly catching up to them just in time to watch the early morning light show.

Since Bo-Katan didn't seem alarmed by the Super Commandoes joining their group, Fenn and the others in his squad refrained from pulling blasters on them. There was one at the front of the small pack of six men who bore the insignia of a Captain that Fenn hadn't seen in his hangar battle. _Perhaps Bo had had time to talk to this man and sway him to her side? _

Everyone watched in silence as Saxon's ISD exploded spectacularly, sending shrapnel in every direction, including at the two new threats. But that just bounced off the ISD shields without doing any damage, unfortunately.

Bo-Katan glanced around at the warriors surrounding her, a sense of triumph and determination filling her, and set her comm to speak externally so all could hear. "Who's up for round two?"

* * *

_Mando'a translations:_

_Aruetii - traitor._

_Cyar'ika – beloved, sweetheart, soulmate._

_Dar'manda – outcast, no longer recognized as an honourable Mandalorian._

_Mir'osik – dung for brains._

_Shabiir - screw up, person who has severely blown it._

_Shabuir – worse than a jerk, fucker._

_Resol'nare – Six Actions. A way of life. 1. Wear the armour. 2. Speak the language. 3. Defend oneself and one's family. 4. Raise your children as Mandalorians. 5. Contribute to the clan's welfare. 6. Rally to any cause without question when called upon by the Mand'alor. _


	7. Never Tease a Mando

**A/N: Everthing before this chapter has been rewritten with my new writing style. Everything after and including this chapter is the original version of this story and will never be completed. (But feel free to read on if you wish.) I am working on a new version that has a different plot from here on out. **

* * *

**Never Tease a Mando: **

Only four hours after leaving camp, the triumphant army was back, and they were already celebrating in a VERY loud fashion as they disembarked their ships. Those who had bothered to come back that is. Many were joining the party taking place in the streets of Sundari where the food and the bars could be found.

Not only had they accomplished their goal of destroying the Duchess and Imperial Headquarters, they had also destroyed all FIVE Star Destroyers that had taken up residence around Mandalore.

After deciding to continue the fight, Sabine and Bo-Katan had quickly come up with a plan; their brilliant strategic minds working almost in sync as they came up with similar ideas.

While they'd been talking, the Super Commando Captain had flown up to them with the last eight members of his squad accompanying him. Blasters had been drawn, but the Captain, who they now knew was named Jett Hark of Clan Saxon, had raised his hands in surrender and sworn himself and his men (also Saxons) to allegiance with the new Mand'alor. Sabine and Bo-Katan had immediately incorporated them into their plans.

Kanan, Ezra, and Chopper were sent to the first Star Destroyer approaching them to turn off the shield generators from the inside in a stealth mission.

The Super Commandos were sent to the second ISD, pretending to go back to their alliance with the Empire. Once inside, they also made their way to the shield generators and turned them off.

Once the two teams had flown off Bo-Katan had called for the many fighter ships waiting on standby at the camp to come shoot down the ISDs the instant the two stealth teams were clear.

Then Sabine and Bo-Katan had taken what warriors they had with them and split into two groups. After taking out the communication satellites so they couldn't warn the ISDs in space or send a long range comm to Coruscant, they harassed the bridges of the ISDs from the outside, causing utter chaos within as the officers tried to deal with Mandos blowing up their work stations.

As the fleet of Mando Kom'rk and Fang fighters approached over the horizon, all the parties in jetpacks had retreated from the ISDs and let the fighters do their jobs. With no shields, the two Star Destroyers were quickly demolished and crashed into the desert with the smouldering remains of Saxon's ISD.

Included in the fleet of Kom'rks was a familiar gold, silver, and black painted one called the Jai'galaar (Shriek-Hawk) which had belonged to Sabine's mother, and an even more familiar one painted in red and black belonging to Ezra.

The fliers had then boarded ships they were associated with. Bo-Katan took the Super Commandos with her to her ship. Ezra, Kanan, and Chopper had gone to his. And Sabine and Fenn Rau had made for the Jai'galaar. There, Sabine had found her father flying the ship. He had commed the few members of Clan Wren that were left behind to guard the camp and had them pack up and bring the ships to Bo-Katan's much bigger camp.

Alrich had been quite excited to be part of the action, artist or no. Despite his refined, mostly pacifist sensibilities, he'd been raised a Mando and was still a Mando.

Ezra and Sabine took over flying their respective ships and they joined the fleet of close to a hundred starfighters in their ascent to space. Then they split into two groups and went all badass on the last two ISDs above the planet, raining vengeance down on the Star Destroyers and engaging the TIEs that emerged from the bellies of the massive ships.

They lost about ten of their impromptu fleet by the end, almost all of them the unshielded Fang fighters, but they won and the deceased would be remembered for dying an honourable death.

Mandalore was now free of the Imperial army and Bo-Katan was determined to keep it that way. She was also going to do whatever was necessary to regain control of all of the hundred or systems that Mandalore called part of their corner of space. The good news was that the Empire had mostly concentrated on taking over the capital planet, so most of the others were either unoccupied or only lightly so. Only a few mining planets were heavily occupied and Bo-Katan was already making plans to get those back.

* * *

Still running high on adrenaline, Ezra landed his Gauntlet beside the Jai'galaar only moments after Sabine's ship touched the dry, dusty earth. He quickly powered down his ship, eager to see Sabine, while the two Clan Wren members quickly made their escape from the bridge, already chattering away in excited Mando'a as they spotted friends giving hearty back slaps in the camp.

Rising from his chair, Ezra clapped Kanan on the shoulder and shot him a grin. "Good shooting, Master. Those TIEs didn't stand a chance against you."

Kanan smiled slightly, indulging Ezra's enthusiasm but not really feeling the same euphoria pretty much everyone else was. Kanan just wanted it all to be over so he could go back to Hera. Four days felt like an absolute eternity when he wasn't in her company. "Your flying was pretty good too, Padawan," he stressed the word teasingly. "Hera would be proud."

Ezra shrugged as he flushed slightly at the praise. "Well. When you learn from the best..."

Kanan chuckled as he turned his attention to Chopper. "I'll tell her you said that. Chop, call Hera. She's probably paced a hole in the Ghost's decking by now waiting to find out what's been going on."

"Tell her I said hi," Ezra called as he left the bridge, leaving Kanan to talk to his mate in privacy. (If you didn't count Chopper; the blackmailing, mood destroying, pain in the ass droid from hell.)

* * *

Sabine landed her mother's ship while feeling a confusing mixture of victory and defeat. Yes, they'd won the day, but Sabine herself felt like she'd lost too much. The very fact that she was flying her mother's Kom'rk with her father in the co-pilot's chair was testament to that.

Her mother should be in the pilot chair and her brother should be in the co-pilot's. Her father should be at home on Krownest or at his art gallery in Sundari. But he wasn't, and the later had been confiscated and trashed by the Empire's brainwashed troopers. And she... She should be with Ezra on his ship. Was it wrong that all she wanted right now was to hide in his arms and disappear from the galaxy for a while?

But she couldn't. She was the bloody shabla Countess now. She had duties. Responsibilities. Obligations. Her relatively carefree life was over. Forever. And all because she was too smart and too cocky and too stupid. Why did she have to invent the Duchess in the first place? She'd thought she'd hated herself before, when the Empire had first tested it against her people years ago. Now it had murdered a portion of her clan and family, and she downright loathed her past self at the moment. All of this was HER fault. If Sabine could go back in time, she'd probably murder her younger self in her current frame of mind.

Kriff, she needed some of Ezra's upbeat enthusiasm right now. She was getting depressingly morbid.

Without even really thinking about it, she automatically powered down the ship. A gentle hand on her shoulder brought her back to the here and now, from where she'd been staring blankly at the consul. Sabine looked up at her father, his eyes looking both sympathetic and just as morose as she felt.

"Your mother would be proud of what you have accomplished today, Daughter." He gulped as his voice wavered and she could see how he was visibly trying to keep it together for her sake.

Sabine bit her lower lip to stop the trembling, but the sorrow was fighting past her willpower again. She turned her face away, not able to look at him, or she would start bawling like a child. "I'm so sorry, Father. I'm sorry I killed Mother and Tristan. And some cousins and second cousins. And... I'm not even sure who else. I'm sorry I killed your wife and son."

"Sabine, stop." Alrich interrupted her before she could start claiming responsibility for every death caused by the Empire. He grabbed both her shoulders and forced her to look at him again, kneeling in front of her chair. "You did NOT kill Ursa and Tristan."

"But..."

"No!" he said, shaking her shoulders just a little. "No, you didn't, and stop blaming yourself for it, because I do not, and does my opinion not count the most?"

Sabine abused her lower lip some more as she nodded slowly.

"Yes, they died by a weapon that you invented, but if you manufactured blasters, would you claim the deaths of every person shot by one?"

"No. The person holding the blaster is the killer," she said quietly, seeing where her father was going with this. "I understand." She sniffled. "But that isn't going to help me sleep any better."

Alrich smiled wanly. "That, I can sympathize with. I haven't slept well for a very long time. Not since your mother cast you out. I loved her, don't get me wrong, but we've lived separately ever since she did that to you. I could not forgive her for choosing her honour over our daughter. I didn't even know you had reconciled until the rumours reached the city that you were back, had dueled Gar Saxon and won, and that Clan Wren was rebelling from Imperial rule." He smiled for real as he smoothed a hand over her vibrant hair. "I am proud of what you have accomplished all on your own, too. I know nothing would have changed if you had not come home and made it happen. You always were my Little Fighter. It warms my heart to have you back in my life, Sabine."

"Daddy," she all but sobbed and fell out of her chair and into his arms as they finally grieved together for what they had lost. "I missed you too. So much."

* * *

Ezra bounded down the ramp of the Gauntlet and then waited semi-patiently for the ramp of Sabine's ship to descend. After a minute of watching what seemed like herds of Mandalorian warriors cheer, laugh, backslap, kiss, and playfight as they celebrated their victory, while being completely ignored by the lot, it did. Fenn Rau and a Mando dressed in Wren silver and gold walked down the ramp, all smiles. Fenn tossed a smile Ezra's way before aiming for Bo-Katan. The Wren booted it for his fellow Wrens hanging out with some Kryzes.

Ezra peered up the ramp, but no one else appeared. Where were Sabine and her father?

Thinking that they might be talking or something, he leaned against the hull of the ship and decided to give them their privacy. So he continued to people watch, occasionally catching a word of Mando'a that he recognized. (Mostly the swears that Sabine used on occasion.) He thought he should probably start paying more attention to whatever Mando'a was spoken around him and actually learn it if he was going to be Sabine's significant other. He didn't want to make her life any harder than it already was.

He'd seen the looks some of the Mandos had given her last night at dinner with him sitting beside her. They hadn't done anything more exciting than sit close enough that their shoulders and thighs touched and maybe blush a little when they looked at each other, but that had been enough to upset more than a few people. They were clearly not happy with him being a Jedi, and some still resented her for inventing the Duchess, even though she'd vowed to destroy it again. The least he could do was learn her language. There was no helping who he was though. Ezra would never be able to just give up being a Jedi, not even for Sabine.

He was proud of who he'd become. It had taken a lot of work, a lot of sweat and tears, a lot of backwards and sideways steps as the Dark side tried to lure him away from Kanan's teachings, but he was finally content with who he was now. Everything within him just felt right. Balanced. He was living a life somewhere between the Jedi of old and a more normal life of a person who came with a family and was very much attached to them. It worked for Kanan, and it worked for him.

Which made him wonder why the old Jedi Order frowned so heavily on attachments. If he and Kanan could do it, then why not everyone else? Even Ahsoka had said the attachment rule was a bunch of bantha poodoo. She'd said she considered her Masters to be her father and brother, and that most Master / Padawan relationships developed into the familial quickly if they'd been paired correctly. And before she'd died, he knew for a fact that she and Rex had been talking about getting married.

Poor Rex. He still wasn't the same, and that was about a year and a half ago now. He didn't even really cheer up when they finally found someone to reverse-engineer the accelerated aging gene and set it to go the other way. There was actually some brown in his beard now and you could definitely see that he, Wolffe, and Gregor were getting younger again. They planned to have the gene disabled when they looked their proper age, which should be about forty-five by the time it evened out, since they were thirty-two now, but looked like sixty something's.

Wondering what was taking Sabine so long, he peeked at her feelings and flinched as a wave of sorrow hit him. Now he was left with the conundrum of whether or not to go try and comfort her or to leave her be, since she was with her father. He wished he could ask Kanan for advice on how to deal with a sad female that was now more than your friend, but he was talking to Hera and he didn't want to interrupt them. And... Kanan was blocking him anyway. That could only mean that Kanan and Hera were having one of THOSE conversations, that Ezra wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

On the other hand, he wouldn't mind having one of THOSE conversations with Sabine. Just the thought of it was enough to wake up the one track mind of the appendage in his pants. Ezra scolded it back into sleep mode by picturing Darth Vader, his aura of ice cold, and that red lightsabre held to his throat.

Yep, that did it. His entire body was cringing now.

Works every time.

And when it came to Sabine and her incredibly hot figure in that bodysuit that she didn't always have the armour attached to, or her silky blue pajama set that left her arms and most of her legs bare and did nothing to hide the shape of her breasts... Let's just say he needed to picture Darth Vader a lot.

Living in a confined space with the girl of your dreams, but not being able to touch her, was both a blessing and the worst form of torture. It was also a good way to inspire him to practice his meditation more frequently to help with body control.

Thank the Force she'd finally returned his interest. Not that he wouldn't have waited another decade if he had to, because he most definitely would have, for her. But he doubted anyone would blame him for exalting over her loving him back.

Which brings him back to his current conundrum... Should he go try and comfort her again?

It was easier when they were just friends and he didn't have an instant link to her feelings. Back then, even if he felt her in a sad mood, it had never been his place to try and cheer her up except in a roundabout fashion that didn't give away the fact that he was sensitive to the feelings of his family. Now that they were bonded for real, her emotions felt like his own and he felt almost compelled to do something to help her.

But she was still Sabine. Still the girl who liked her space and to deal with her stuff on her own. He didn't know how much she'd welcome his interference now that they were... Dating? Engaged? Friends with benefits? (What were they anyway? Force, he hoped it wasn't the last one.) Shrugging that question off for later, he focused on his current problem; whether or not to barge into the ship and distract her into feeling happier again. She'd welcomed his presence last night, but that didn't mean she'd do it again, not with her father present. Maybe not even if she was all alone.

He waffled for another minute, but finally decided to throw caution to the wind. The worst she could do was yell at him, and she'd done that plenty over the years, so that wouldn't be anything new.

Decision made, he was striding up the ramp of the ship in an instant and aiming for Sabine's signature at the front of the large troop fighter.

He paused at the closed bridge door, second guessing himself again. Sabine was still feeling sad, but happiness was creeping in there as well. What to do? What to do?

Scrunching up one side of his face from the indecision eating at him, his finger nevertheless moved towards the button to open the door. In slow motion.

The instant before he actually touched it, the door opened on its own. To say he was relieved would be an understatement.

Ezra smiled brilliantly at Sabine and Alrich as they blinked at him in surprise to see him right on the other side of the door. "Hi! I was just..."

"Coming to get us?" Sabine supplied helpfully with a small smile.

"Yah. That." Ezra smiled dopily at her as her smile widened and her emotions settled into contentment once again. He did that, he thought. Seeing him made her truly happy again. That just made his day more than anything else he'd done by a long shot.

Sabine had known for a few years now that being in Ezra's vicinity had a tendency to lift her spirits, but she hadn't realized quite how good he was for her until the last twenty-four hours. And now, being the entire recipient of his unabashed focus was doing funny things to her heart. She swore it was melting and skipping beats as she got lost in his twinkling blue eyes.

Alrich looked from his daughter to the Jedi and back again, his eyebrows rising almost to his hairline as the seconds ticked past. His mouth twitched in amusement, thinking back to younger days and courting Ursa. He cleared his throat, making them both startle a little and look at him. "I'll just... Leave you two alone, shall I?" he said as he sidled past Ezra, holding back a chuckle. He walked a few steps and then looked back over his shoulder to see both of them still blinking at him, but now their faces were turning quite red. "If you're not outside in ten minutes, though, I'll come and get you."

He let the laugh out when Sabine said, "Father!" in a distressed tone. "We're both adults! And we're not going to do anything you'd disapprove of anyway!" she yelled to his retreating back as he hotfooted it for the exit. The second he had a door between himself and them, Alrich was snorting with laughter.

Bo-Katan and Fenn Rau were nearby, heads close together as they talked quietly. They looked over at Alrich in curiosity. "What is so amusing?" the man who Alrich had taken an instant liking too last night asked. He was sure they were going to be good friends, and he owed him as well, for looking out for his family when he couldn't. (Not that Alrich was that great at the warrior arts, but he wasn't completely helpless.)

Alrich sorted himself down to just a few chuckles and nodded towards the ship. "The kids. They're so infatuated with each other, you'd have to be dead to miss it."

Fenn and Bo-Katan nodded in understanding. "I have observed this myself," Fenn said with a small twitch of his mouth. "Even before Sabine knew it herself. Ezra, on the other hand, has always known what he wanted."

"Much like yourself?" Alrich said in a teasing tone with a flick of his eyes towards the new Mand'alor.

He smirked as Fenn blushed and Bo-Katan said, "What?"

Alrich couldn't help but notice that she looked at Fenn differently after that. Assessing would probably be the best way to describe it. Good.

* * *

"We're not?" Ezra said, only half in jest. He pouted a little, his eyes going all wide and pleading, but sparking with mirth at the same time.

Sabine smirked, dropped her helmet, and pushed him back against the wall beside the doorway with a thump. "Of course we are."

He ooomphed in surprise, but grinned almost immediately, whispering a triumphant, "Yes!" as she grabbed his head and pulled him down to her. She gently bit the lip that had been sticking out just a moment ago and then demanded entry into his mouth.

Ezra opened willingly and their tongues immediately got tangled together as they fought for dominance. His hands found their way to her waist, kneading the supple flesh through her bodysuit, before lowering to cup her sweet rear end and press her against himself, lifting her off the floor to do so and leaning back against the wall again at the same time.

Sabine pulled her mouth away from his, her hands still holding the back of his head tightly, and stared into his dilated eyes. "You need to grow your hair out again," she said between panting breaths.

Ezra's brows rose in surprise before he grinned. "I can do that."

"Good," she murmured before attacking his lips once again. Kissing was amazing. Kissing was better than blowing things up. Just barely, but it was, and she never thought she'd think that. Kissing him as much as possible was her new goal in life.

Being pressed against his hard body was nothing to laugh at either. His kneading fingers on her ass were sending little thrills through her that settled right in her core. He held her effortlessly, too. And that was turning her on even more. She never knew he had so much strength in his lean body. She been under the impression that he used the Force to power his feats of strength, but maybe some of it had been just him. Kriff, that was hot.

Force, oh, Force, she tasted so sweet; like fire and candy and yogans all in one. He didn't know how that was possible, but he didn't care. Ezra just wanted to stay locked like this forever. But he had a mental clock ticking in his mind and he was allowing himself just one more minute of the heart pounding pleasure of holding her via squeezing her perfect round butt cheeks, and having her weight pressed against his chest, and delving into her mouth as they took turns chasing each other's tongues in a game of teasing kisses.

He didn't trust Alrich not to keep his word and show up back in the ship. There was no way he was getting caught with his hands on his daughter's ass and his tongue in her mouth. No way in hell.

When he was sure his time was up, he very reluctantly straightened off the wall and put her back down, hands running up her back once her feet were safely on the decking again. He eased off the kisses to just two final presses of his lips to hers ever so softly and then propped his chin on top her head as he held her close in a hug and started talking his electrified body back into submission, beginning by concentrating on his breathing and slowing it down, and then adding his racing heartbeat to the equation. And then he added a little image of Darth Vader for the final touch.

All those years of practicing meditation were coming in very handy indeed.

Sabine didn't want to stop but she knew he was right. Now was not the time to get too carried away. But kriff, sometime soon, they were going to have a very long and very uninterrupted makeout session. She vowed it.

How far she let that makeout session go in terms of intimacy she had yet to figure out.

For the time being, she simply wrapped her arms around his narrow waist in return and breathed in his startlingly good scent. Under the hint of sweat (which surprisingly wasn't repulsive), he smelled like grass and fresh air. He smelled like Lothal. (Before the Empire started burning it.) "How do you smell like Lothal, when, as far as I know, you haven't been back for weeks or longer?" she murmured into his collar.

Ezra shrugged slightly, a chuckle escaping him at the completely random question. "I don't know. My home is in my blood, I guess."

She rubbed her cheek against his shirt, sighing softly at how comfortable she felt right now. "Well, I like it."

Ezra smiled and kissed the top of her head, breathing her in in return. "For the record. I like how you smell too. Like citrus, and paint, and a hint of just fired blasters. You smell just like what you are."

Sabine looked up at him, dislodging his chin, a teasing smile playing with her lips. "Like a painted yogan exploded on me?"

Ezra snorted and rolled his eyes at her, a hand moving up to her hair and combing through it in apparent fascination. "No, silly. Like a warrior girl who also happens to be the best artist I've ever seen."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Bridger," she said, stretching up and kissing his cheek.

Ezra beamed at her. "Awesome. I have a lot more where that came from."

Sabine laughed and rolled her eyes at him as she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Please. Not if it's like your attempts at flirting four years ago."

Ezra leaned a shoulder against the wall as he crossed his arms and ankles, adopting a negligent air. "My flirting was not that bad, but even if it was, I like to think I've gotten better at it."

Sabine raised a brow. "Oh? And who exactly have you been practicing on, Ezra Bridger?"

Ezra smirked at her. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Sabine narrowed her eyes at him, a niggle of jealousy winding its way into her. She punched him on the arm, not exactly lightly. "Tell me!"

Ezra laughed as he rubbed his arm in an exaggerated fashion. "Well... There were other girls on the base on Atallon, and you were gone for months."

Sabine's eyes narrowed further and she wound up to punch him again.

Ezra caught her fist before she could let it fly, laughing harder. "Whoa! I was teasing! The only girl I've ever flirted with since I met you is you. Believe me. Any and all practicing has been in my mind and my dreams only, I promise."

Sabine huffed, relaxing. But she let fly with her left fist, just because. "Don't joke about stuff like that," she said as he winced for real and rubbed his other arm. She crossed her arms over her chest again and gave him a warning glare. "I think I might be a very jealous Mando, now that I've decided to claim you as mine. You do not want to anger a jealous Mando."

Ezra raised his hands in surrender, his mouth still twitching with humour. "I see that. My mistake." He reached forward and cupped her face in his hands, leaning towards her, his eyes very serious all of a sudden. "I promise you'll never have anything to get jealous about from my side of things. You are the only girl I've seen for more than four years. No one will ever make me look elsewhere." He sealed his vow with a gentle kiss to her red and somewhat swollen lips from their earlier kisses. He rested his forehead against hers and gazed into her amber eyes. "And to add to the record, I have always been yours, so you don't need to claim me."

Sabine found herself cupping his face in return, eyes searching his and seeing only sincerity and truth. "Oh, I'm still claiming you. But, I think, somewhere in me, I've always known that, because I'm yours too, Ezra. Do you know how many guys I've turned down over the last four years?"

Ezra shook his head slightly within her grasp, eyes wide and he appeared to have stopped breathing. "Do I even want to know?"

Sabine's mouth quirked up. "Probably not. I'll just say that none of them ever felt right. None of them were you." She kissed him just as gently as he had her and then pulled away, but laced the fingers of one hand with his, not willing to lose their connection entirely. She tugged on it and started walking towards the exit. "Come. Talking about Lothal earlier made me realize we aren't done yet with our fight against the Empire. Mandalore may be free now, but your homeworld is not and I've been coming up with some ideas that might just work."

Ezra walked beside her willingly, blinking at her in shock. "At the same time as everything else we were doing and talking about?"

Sabine turned her head and smirked at him. "Of course. I'm a girl. We're fully capable of multitasking, unlike the male of the species."

"Hey!"


	8. A New Threat

**A New Threat: **

Captain Hark and his fellow Super Commandoes were feeling rather like the rotten yogans in the bushel of fruit. Almost every single Mando in the camp was giving them dirty looks and avoiding them like they carried the plague. A few had even gone so far as to spit at their feet, one of the worst insults you could deal a fellow Mando.

After ten minutes of this, Jett came to the conclusion that it was time for drastic measures. He needed a paint gun and he needed one now. All this Imperial white needed to go. And getting rid of the Imperial symbols on their bodysuits wouldn't hurt either. White was a rare colour on Mandalorian armour for a reason that went back millennia; it was too shabla easy to see.

And right now, he and his men felt like walking targets.

He'd like to just fly home to the Saxon Stronghold, but Jett was now stuck in a strange limbo position. He'd declared loyalty to the new Mand'alor, but aside from him and his men, there were no other Saxons here. Which meant the clan was not allied with her. At least not yet. He fully intended to change that.

With Tiber Saxon now assuredly deceased, the rightful heir of the Countship fell back to Gar Saxon's son, Drago, but the boy was only ten years old; much too young to lead. The next two in line had been cousins, but they'd both been killed yesterday by the Wrens before the Duchess had done its vile work. The power vacuum at the Saxon stronghold would cause a great deal of chaos as soon as people found out, which he assumed would be very shortly. Bad news had a way of travelling in the speediest of fashions despite all the odds against it.

Jett had every intention of filling that power vacuum and taking over as Count of Clan Saxon. But it was best if he bid his time, letting the other power seekers fight each other first, wearing themselves out. With the right timing, he should be able to walk right in, challenge whoever was left standing, and take command.

So that meant he was going to stay here for a day or so and make nice with the other clans. But they weren't going trust him as long as he looked like an Imperial.

With his men trailing behind him, Jett made his way back to Mand'alor Kryze's vicinity, wishing he'd never left it in the first place. At least when they were near her, people left them alone.

She was currently talking to Fenn Rau and Alrich Wren of all people. Just his luck. The leader of the Protectors was bound to have a hate on for him for what he'd done under orders to the Protectors, and he'd been taunting Wren about seeing Sundari for the last time just yesterday while on their way to the man's scheduled public execution. Karma was really coming around to bite him on the shebs now, wasn't it?

Telling himself to suck it up, he approached the group and interrupted their conversation when there was a hint of a pause in it. "Pardon me, my Lady, but I was wondering if you happened to have a supply of black and red paint lying around somewhere?"

All three of them turned their focus on him and his men, a light of understanding dawning in their eyes as they took in the white armour and Imperial symbols, and the nasty looks being cast at their group from anyone how happened to glance their way.

"I'm afraid I do not," Kryze said in apology.

Rau crossed his arms over his chest and just looked smug, the bastard. He was enjoying this. "Serves you right for following Saxon and what you did to my men."

"I only followed the orders of my Count and Governor like a good Mando," Jett replied, crossing his arms in return. "It was nothing personal."

Rau raised a brow in blatant disbelief for a moment. "So Bo-Katan was telling me. I find that hard to believe, but I will accept that for now. It's the only reason I'm not calling you out as we speak. But if you ever give me any reason to doubt your loyalty to our new Mand'alor, I will kill you."

Jett smirked under his helmet. He'd like to see the older man try. But for the sake of keeping the peace, all he said was, "Understood."

"My daughter may have some paint," Wren said, adding his voice to the conversation. "But I doubt it's black. She's generally inclined towards brighter colours." His mouth was twitching with amusement at what he undoubtedly felt was well deserved payback.

Both Rau and Kryze snorted softly at what was definitely an understatement as Jett thought about the new Countess Wren's armour and purple paint bomb she'd hit Wren's transport with. Bright colours indeed. "We'll take what we can get," Jett said in a resigned tone, his men shifting on their feet in dismay, but too well disciplined to say anything. "I'll ask her," he said as he saw the young woman in question appear at the top of the ramp of the Wren coloured Kom'rk.

Jett felt a great deal of admiration and a definite attraction for the vibrant female. He'd had more than a few encounters with her so far, almost all of which included him getting hurt in some fashion.

The first time he'd met her, if you could call it that, had been more than half a year ago when he'd chased her and the young Jedi all over Concord Dawn's moon. He'd been shot out of the sky by a blaster bolt returned right to him from the Jedi's lightsabre and crashed to the ground of the canyon in a spectacular fashion. He'd come out of that one with a dislocated shoulder and bruises. Sucking up the pain, he caught up in time to see her hold her own against Gar Saxon in a no holds barred fight, which was no easy feat. Gar Saxon was a brutal fighter and had no qualms about fighting dirty, as he knew firsthand.

Encounter number two occurred on Krownest in the Wren Stronghold. Instead of capturing the two Jedi, he and his men had been defeated by the Wrens, and Gar Saxon once again went up against Sabine Wren. From his kneeling position in the great room, with a blaster pointed at his head and his arm burning like a sonofahutt from where the older Jedi had redirected his own shot back at him (really got to stop aiming at the Jedi), he'd seen glimpses of their fight over the frozen lake. She had been spectacular, defeating Gar Saxon at his own game with the legendary Darksabre and a green one that belonged to the younger Jedi. For some reason that he didn't understand, she had let Saxon live. But her mother had ended his leader's life when Gar Saxon moved to shoot Sabine in the back. (A very dishonourable act that he deserved to die for.)

Encounter number three had been in Sundari. She and her brother had come to the city to seek out information on the whereabouts of her father, who was being held in the Saxon Stronghold at the time. Despite being very young, Tristan Wren had been one of his best Commandoes and was well on his way to earning the rank of second in command. Jett had also considered him to be a good friend. To see him once again wearing Wren colours had felt like a slap in the face and also inspired a twinge of jealousy that Tristan got to look like a Mando again as opposed to a glorified stormtrooper. Before they could get in trouble with any other Imperials, he'd called for backup and then chased them out of the city. He'd ordered his men to fire warning shots only, not quite able to bring himself to shoot at Tristan or his very hot older sister for real.

Encounter number four was just yesterday, when he'd been in command of the convoy transporting her father to Sundari. He'd seen her slender outline flying around through the purple paint as reports came in over his HUD from troopers and commandoes alike that they had been taken out of the game and that there were at least three Mandos and two Jedi attacking the convoy. The report had been verified when a green lightsabre had thrust its way up through the consol, barely missing killing the driver. He'd gone to look under the transport, but had seen nothing. Not even a minute later, he'd been kicked out of the speeding transport by the young Jedi, hitting the ground hard and dislocating the same shoulder again since it was now prone to it. At this rate, he'd end up with a mechanical right arm before he was thirty, since over the course of his lifetime, he'd dislocated it about a dozen times, broken it twice, and been shot in the elbow. He was sure the med droids were making bets against the survival of his arm.

And lastly, he'd seen her early this morning as Taber Saxon tortured her with her own weapon design. (And him too, the shabuir. He never did like him much.) To turn it around on him in only a minute of fiddling had been bloody brilliant and then to lock him to it as the machine went haywire... He didn't think he'd ever find a more suitable warrior female that would compliment him better.

Jett wanted her for himself.

There was just one problem. And he was currently walking down the ramp with his fingers interlaced with hers. Jett scowled at the sight of the young Jedi poaching on his prize. What was she doing letting a Jedi scum touch her? It was bad enough she worked with one, but understandable since the Jedi were formidable warriors and got things done.

She looked amazingly beautiful at the moment. Her eyes sparkled. Her cheeks had a rosy tint to them. Her lips were redder and plumper than he remembered and curved sweetly in a joyful smile. She was entirely focused on the Jedi as they strolled down the ramp, their eyes never leaving the other's. Jett wanted to be the one to make her look that happy. He had so much more to offer than the Jedi. All he had to do was make her see it.

"You go get Kanan," she was saying. "And I'll talk to Bo-Katan about having a meeting about my grand plan."

"Sure," the Jedi said eagerly. He kissed her cheek and was turning to leave, but Sabine hadn't let go of his fingers yet. He turned back with a raised brow when his arm stretched out. "Was there something else?"

Sabine grinned at him. "I just wanted to tell you that you've accomplished what no other person has ever done."

"And what's that?" the boy said curiously. And he was a boy. He was clearly younger than her, not even filled out yet into full manhood. What did she see in him?

She flicked her eyes towards the interior of the ship. "You made me forget my helmet for an entire minute," she said in a tone of mock horror and disbelief.

His eyes widened comically. "No!" He raised his free hand to his heart as if to still it. "I'll have to tell the galaxy's news stations that I, Ezra Bridger, have made Countess Sabine Wren forget her helmet for the first time in her life. It will be the juiciest piece of gossip ever heard, cause everyone knows that the famous artist warrior is never more than a metre from her helmet at any given time." He lowered his voice down to a conspiratorial tone. "It's even said she takes it to the refresher with her."

Sabine was giggling as she swatted him playfully on the shoulder. "Stop, you goofball, and get going before you start weird rumours about me." She grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around, and pushed him towards the red and black Kom'rk that he'd overheard a few people gossiping about. It seemed the ship used to belong to Maul and was now owned by the Jedi boy. Between that and Sabine having possession of the Darksabre until she GAVE it to Bo-Katan has made everyone both wary and semi respectful of the pair of young people. If they could defeat Maul, then they must be formidable indeed.

The Jedi turned back around so he was walking backwards, grinning widely. "But you like my goofy side, Sabine. And besides, even if people start gossiping about you, I know you'll kick them back into submission and have fun doing it, so it's all good."

She shook her white and purple head at him as she started walking back up the ramp. "You know me too well, Ezra Bridger."

He stopped when his foot bumped into the ramp of his ship. "Ditto, Sabine Wren," he called across the distance. They exchanged a look for a long drawn out moment before he turned and leapt up the whole ramp in one effortless bound, making Jett blink in surprise.

Sabine sighed softly and then disappeared back inside her ship.

Jett glanced at her father and found him smiling indulgently, apparently perfectly fine with his daughter's choice in boyfriend. Rau was also smiling like a pleased parent. And Kryze had an amused slant to her lips as she shook her head.

"I did not think that choosing a Jedi was the wisest thing Sabine could have done, especially now that she is going to be under the scrutiny of so many," Kryze said to Wren when he focused on her. "But they are clearly bonded already and he has proven himself to be honourable and a useful ally. She will have my support."

"Thank you, Mand'alor," Wren said with a bow of his head. "I appreciate that very much."

"Please, Alrich," Kryze said with a roll of the eyes. "We've known each other for decades. Stick with Bo-Katan."

"As you wish," he said with a smile.

"I'm going to go ask Countess Wren about paint," Jett interjected, and then took off before anyone could object, giving his men a subtle hand signal to stay put.

He was seething that everyone important seemed to be perfectly fine with Sabine choosing a Jedi. So what if they were friends? That didn't mean she couldn't choose someone else as a husband. Jett was determined to at least try and change her mind. And failing that, maybe he could scare the Jedi off. Then she'd have to choose someone else. A true Mandalorian warrior like her deserved so much better than a Jedi scumbag BOY.

He strode up the ramp with determined strides, catching her returning to the cargo bay with her helmet tucked under her arm.

* * *

Sabine was feeling very light and carefree at the moment thanks to Ezra. Possibly a little giddy even, and she was not one to be 'giddy'. Stars, she'd missed him these last few months. She'd missed the easy camaraderie of her entire Ghost family, in fact. Which was why she was liking her newest idea for Lothal more and more.

Krownest just didn't feel like home anymore. Not even when her mother and brother were there with her. And now that they were gone? Sabine just couldn't see herself making the winter planet her long-term home whether she was the Countess Wren or not.

With any luck, Bo-Katan, Fenn, and her father would also be agreeable to her idea. It would work out to everyone's benefit in the long run, she was pretty sure.

Mentally crossing her fingers for the coming meeting, she bent down and grabbed her helmet off the floor, sighing over the new scuff mark in the paint from her mistreatment of it. Good thing she'd brought her paints with her so she could fix it. But then again, she always had her paints with her, in one form or another. If the opportunity to paint her phoenix symbol on something Imperial presented itself, she just couldn't stop herself from doing so.

Turning back around, she gave her helmet a thorough inspection as she walked, finding a few more little scuffs that needed attention from the day's activities. And if she looked closely enough, the entire paint job actually looked a little bit frazzled and blurred, courtesy of the Duchess. Frowning, she glared down at her chest plate and found the same problem. Grrrr. Now she'd have to repaint the entire set as soon as she had some time. It would bug her to no end if she didn't.

The good news was that she had been thinking about changing up her armour again soon anyway. Maybe to something that more reflected her new attachment to Ezra. Something with a lot more blue in it.

Walking into the cargo hold, she paused in surprise to see someone else coming in from the ramp side. "Can I help you with something, Captain?" she asked the Super Commando that she'd encountered a few too many times in the past for her liking, but she was giving him the benefit of the doubt in regards to his new loyalties until he did something to prove otherwise. Tristan had said he wasn't as bad as he could be, too, considering the viper pit he originated from.

He pulled off his helmet, revealing his face to her for the first time. He was younger than she was expecting; mid twenties maybe. His features were pleasantly put together in a rugged way. His head was covered in short black hair that was very similar to Ezra's current cut, but didn't shine blue under the lights, making it a true black. His eyes reminded her of Imperial grey hallways and the smile on his mouth didn't reach them.

Sabine still didn't like him.

"Your father said you would be my best bet to find some paint for my armour and that of my men's," he said genially. Glancing down at his almost entirely white armour with a hint of red ruefully, he added, "We're not feeling very welcome at the moment."

"I don't know why," Sabine said, trying to rein in the sarcasm but failing miserably. "You were fighting for the wrong team just yesterday."

He shrugged apologetically. "Just following the Head of my Clan. But they're all deceased now and there is no one left to follow." He puffed his chest out self importantly. "I'm going to fight for the title of Count Saxon when I get home. Then the whole clan will follow the Mand'alor."

Sabine was getting the impression that she was supposed to be impressed by this. She wasn't. She smiled indulgently anyway to help this move along a little faster. "Good luck with that. As far as painting your armour goes, I don't have enough to cover all that white on nine sets in anything resembling a matching fashion, so I won't even try. As far as the Imperial symbols go, have you thought about simply taking off your armour and bodysuit, since the symbols are on the upper arms of the bodysuit? There must be nine spare shirts or tunics lying around here somewhere. Go find them. Or kriff, borrow a cape and go buy some new bodysuits from the city and a bucket of paint in the colour of your choosing. It's not rocket science."

He blinked at her stupidly for a few seconds, frowned, and then visibly forced himself to smile. "That is a very good idea. I feel stupid for not thinking of it myself. Thank you for your time." Sabine's opinion of him rose half a fraction because he managed to be gracious about it.

"You're welcome," she said as she passed him and walked down the ramp with the ex Imperial traitor following her.

Ezra was waiting for her at the bottom of the ramp, watching them curiously. "What did he want?" he asked quietly as they watched him walk back to his men and Bo-Katan only a dozen metres away.

"He wanted me to paint all of their armour," she murmured, rolling her eyes slightly. "I also got the feeling he was trying to impress me."

Ezra glanced at her. "Another of the multitudes of men you've had to turn down?" he teased in a whisper, his beautiful blue eyes smiling at her.

Sabine rolled her eyes harder, shoving him with her shoulder. "Something like that. Anyway, keep an eye out for him. Something tells me he's not done in his attempts to get on my good side. And we all know what kind of environment he was raised in. Backstabbing and treachery are probably in his nature."

"Got it," Ezra whispered back with a smirk, obviously not worried about anything the commando could dish out. He raised his voice back to normal. "Kanan will be out in a minute, along with Hera in hologram form. I hope that's okay?"

"Of course," Sabine said as she started walking towards Bo-Katan, Fenn, and her father. "Now I just have to convince everyone that my idea is worth the risk."

"And what is your idea?" Ezra asked.

"Yes, we've all been wondering that ourselves," Bo-Katan called as Captain Hark and his men marched off in the direction of her Kom'rk and Kanan and Chopper emerged from the Gauntlet. "What scheme are you hatching now, Sabine Wren?"

Sabine grinned to everyone as they assembled around her and Hera's hologram flickered to life via Chopper, drawing out the moment for effect. "A really good one. What do you think of adding the Lothal system to Mandalorian controlled space?"

Everyone stared at Sabine for two whole seconds of shocked silence before there was an eruption of voices.

"Out of the question!" (Fenn)

"It's simply not feasible." (Bo-Katan)

"Why would we do that?" (Alrich)

"I doubt the Lothalians would be impressed with the idea." (Hera)

"How does that help anything?" (Ezra)

"She's officially lost it." (Chopper)

"What the hell?" (Passing bystander who almost fell over as they whipped back around to see who'd said such a ridiculous thing.)

"I haven't lost it!" Sabine said passionately into the momentary vacuum of silence before anyone could say anything else. "I think this would benefit everyone if you'd just hear me out."

Kanan was the only one who hadn't said a word. He had his arms crossed and his eyes closed behind his mask (automatic reflex) as he searched the feelings of the Force on the matter. He wasn't feeling anything negative. "I think we should listen to Sabine," he spoke up. "And somewhere more private would probably be a good idea," he added with a nod of his chin towards the few people who'd been close enough to overhear and had all frozen and were visibly straining to hear what would be said next.

"Thank you, Kanan," Sabine said gratefully. She'd thought more people would be open to the idea, but apparently she was going to have convince them.

Bo-Katan glanced around them, raising an imperious brow at the gawkers. They instantly made themselves look busy and walking elsewhere. "I'm afraid the whole camp is going to know within a minute and all of Mandalore within the hour, but we might as well go to the Command Tent and have the rest of this discussion in peace."

So they all trekked across camp to the big tent. As he walked beside her, Ezra shot Sabine a questioning look. "Are you sure about this?" he asked in a barely audible whisper.

"Trust me," she mouthed back, not quite a question.

"All right," Ezra said, linking his fingers with hers to show his support.

Sabine smiled at him gratefully and squeezed his hand.

They assembled in the tent and Bo-Katan focused on Sabine. "Okay, Wren. Explain how you think this is supposed to work. I'm going to have my hands full as it is re-establishing control of the current Mandalorian systems. Adding another one is not something I was even contemplating."

Sabine set her helmet down on a table and took a deep breath to settle her thoughts. "First off, I just came up with this idea like ten minutes ago, so bear with me." She looked at everyone with her big eyes sincere and a just a little bit pleading. "I once vowed to Ezra that I would never give up on helping him free his planet and I have no intention of breaking that vow."

Ezra shot a beaming smile at her. "That's true. It was after one of our practice sessions with the Darksabre," he explained to Kanan and Hera's hologram, who were looking curious. "I asked her what she would do if she actually did become the next Mand'alor."

"And I said I would free Mandalore, but no matter what I did in the future, I wouldn't forget about Lothal, and I meant it; it's your home." Sabine's eyes locked with Ezra's for a moment before she faced the others. "And as far as I'm concerned, aside from the Ghost, Lothal is my home too. And the Empire is destroying it."

"But Krownest is your home," Alrich said in a reasonable tone that barely disguised the hurt.

"I'm sorry, Father, but Krownest hasn't been my home since I was twelve and was shipped off to the Academy here in Sundari."

Alrich's head bowed as he thought about that, eyes sorrowful.

"But you're the Countess now," Fenn said. "You have to call Krownest your home."

"Do I?" Sabine said with a raised brow. "What if I said I wanted to move Clan Wren to Lothal and establish Mandalorian control over the planet? Moving a Clan's main stronghold is not without precedent by any stretch of the imagination."

"This is true," Bo-Katan said. "My own homeworld of Kalevala was taken over by my parents while it was in a state of chaos. It flourishes now with prosperity. I have no objections to you moving your clan, but what do you intend to do about Krownest? You can't just leave it empty. Someone must continue to protect the covert diamond mining operations already in place. You and I both know we need the steady income of those credits now more than ever."

Sabine smiled slightly at this in Fenn's direction. "No. I wasn't going to do that. I was thinking Fenn Rau was the perfect person to assume control of the planet. You lost your base by Concord Dawn because Kanan and I kidnapped you; it is only fair that I give you another one. I'm sure there would be plenty of volunteers to start up the Protectors again once they knew you were looking."

Fenn looked shocked at first and then drifted into intrigued. "I would not be opposed to this idea," he said stroking his jaw as he thought. "I've even been approached by a few warriors who were curious to see if I was re-establishing the Journeyman Protectors again, but I had no base and nothing to protect."

"Well, now you do," Sabine said with a grin. "I will not force my clan members to leave Krownest if they really want to stay, so you might end up with a few already on site volunteers."

"That is fine with me," Fenn said. "I like your clan."

"I noticed," Sabine said with a smirk. "You've been living with us for months."

"Pardon me," Hera said, interjecting. "But what does this mean for Lothal exactly? Assuming we can chase the Empire out of the system, that is. And are you including Garel? Because it's just the next system over and only a seven minute hyperjump. I doubt you could keep the Empire off Lothal if they still have control of Garel."

"Those are good questions, Hera." Sabine said. "As far as Lothal is concerned, just like Krownest and Kalevala, the reigning clan would oversee and protect the planet. I would put Ryder back in power as the Governor, since he has experience with the job and someone has to deal with the day to day running of things, but he would answer to me in regards to major decisions like establishing a new military, mining concerns, and expanding current infrastructure."

"That sounds reasonable," Hera said. "What do you think, Ezra? It's your planet."

"I'm all for it if it means Sabine lives on Lothal with me and not me on Krownest with her. The snow's pretty and all, but I'm definitely a summer person." Ezra grinned at Sabine as she snorted in amusement.

Everyone chuckled once or twice.

"But seriously," Ezra continued, finding a mature stance. "I actually really like this idea. Lothal is suffering under Imperial rule. Suffering badly. I doubt there would be too many protestors to a new ruler who promised them peace and prosperity."

"That's all well and good," Kanan said. "But Hera's right. What about Garel?"

"I've been thinking about that," Sabine said. "The Imperial presence there is minimal at best at the moment. They're concentrating on Lothal big time with their factories and mining operations. Bo-Katan, Hera, if we helped the Rebellion clean out Garel first, do you think Rebel Command would be interested in using Garel as a secondary base of operations? This would mean that Mandalore would support the Rebellion in a passive fashion, since I know you don't have enough forces to contribute to the cause full time, but that would also make Mothma and Organa happy. I know they've been trying to get Mandalorian support for years."

Bo-Katan didn't even have to think about it. "I have no problem with allying with the Rebel Alliance, but as you said, I cannot promise any ships or warriors for their fight. But they can use Mandalorian hyperspace routes and will have sanctuary on any of our planets. Once we have control of our farming planets again, I can also provide supplies as needed."

Hera was almost speechless. "Oh my. I had no idea this was where this discussion was heading. I can't speak for Command, being only a Captain, but I think they'll be all for it. As a trade planet, Garel is a perfect location for another base, as we know from when Phoenix Cell was located there. I'll talk to them first thing in the morning. It's three a.m. here, if anyone was wondering."

"What are you doing up?" Sabine said curiously.

Kanan winced. "That was my bad. I forgot the time difference and woke her up with my call."

Hera's hologram looked at Kanan affectionately. "Trust me, I didn't mind, love."

More than a few eyebrows rose at her tone and Kanan's resultant flush that appeared on the skin not covered by his mask or beard. Sabine and Ezra fake shuddered, since they knew what that tone meant. Kanan and Hera weren't exactly their parents, but the relationship between all of them was close enough to make no difference. And no child wanted to think too much about the parental units' love life.

To get the attention off him and Hera, Kanan focused on Sabine. "So what is your actual plan then of how to make this happen? I'm sure we're all dying of curiosity. Lothal is currently blockaded by at least twenty Star Destroyers and under the personal supervision of Grand Admiral Thrawn. What you want to do and what is actually possible seem like two vastly different things right now."

Everyone stared at Sabine as they nodded in agreement with Kanan. She stood taller under their focus, a determined set to her jaw. "I know the odds are stacked against it, but I just know this is the right thing to do."

"It feels right to me," Ezra said supportively.

"We're listening," Bo-Katan added.

"Right," Sabine said on an exhale. "First, I have to go to Krownest and talk to my clan."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Alrich said, having been quiet for a long time now. "I will support you in this endeavour, Daughter, even though I think it might not be well received by many. "I owe you too much, and I owe your Jedi my life. I see that this means a lot to both of you."

"Thank you, Father," Sabine said with a sweet smile in his direction. "Next, I think just a small party, probably consisting of just our Ghost crew, Hera, if you're up for it, are going to sneak onto Lothal and do some scouting and planning. We need to know exactly what our opponents are up to and what targets to hit since we haven't been there for months."

"You know I'm more than willing to do that," Hera said, "But there's no way I'm getting anywhere near that blockade with the Ghost; I'm pretty sure every Imperial officer in the galaxy knows my ship. We can't take the Gauntlet either. A Mando ship would stick out like a sore thumb."

"I have an idea of how to get on the planet," Ezra said with a hesitant grin. "But you're not going to like it."

Kanan shook his head at Ezra. "If you say Visago, Hondo, or Calrissian, then yep, you're right. We don't like it."

Ezra's grin widened. "Then I won't say it." He turned his focus to Sabine. "What's after that, cyar'ika?"

Sabine melted a little at the term of affection in front of the others. "Then we get off planet again in whatever fashion is necessary, meet up with Clan Wren and whatever ships Rebel Command wants to send and we take Garel. Then we have a staging ground for the battle for Lothal. I was hoping we could come up with some kind of diversion to get most or even all of Thrawn's fleet to leave orbit so we could take control of the ground and blow up the Imperial Dome and their factories."

"Ambitious, but not insane," Bo-Katan said with a hint of admiration in her voice. "Your plan has definite potential. I would even send some fighters if you could remove most of the ISDs from the area. As we proved today, we can handle two Star Destroyers at a time with a fleet of about a hundred fighters. If the Rebels also sent the same number, you have a real shot of making this happen."

Sabine beamed with pride and gratitude. "Thank you. I told you that this idea would benefit everyone in the long run."

"You were right," Hera said. "Now we just have to get Rebel Command on board. And as I said, I'll talk to them first thing in the morning. In the meantime, everyone should start thinking of a good way to draw Thrawn's fleet away from the planet. And don't say flaunt the Ghost at them and then just fly a little faster than their laser cannons can reach."

"Awww," Sabine pouted playfully. "I was totally going to suggest that," she teased.

Hera scowled for a moment as Chopper beeped out laughter.

"I actually have an idea for that too," Ezra said tentatively. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as everyone focused on him curiously.

"What?" Kanan said. "It can't be that bad?" he asked, sensing his Padawan's reluctance to say his idea.

Ezra winced. "Weellllll. It kind of is. And I doubt anyone's going to believe me."

"Just spit it out, Ezra. I promise we won't laugh," Sabine said, nudging him with her shoulder when he was silent too long.

Still making a face, he said, "You remember the purrgil?"

"I don't think we're ever going to forget them," Hera said dryly.

"What about them?" Kanan said encouragingly.

"When I saved their food supply, they promised to help me once in return. They said I would know when the time was right and they gave me a frequency to use to call them." Ezra peered out from under his brows to see how everyone was taking that.

There was a lot of gaping mouths.

"Are you saying the purrgil are intelligent beings?" Sabine said, the first to put the clues together.

Ezra nodded eagerly. "That's exactly what I'm saying. I think they could come chase the Star Destroyers out of the system. They might even be able to do a great deal of damage if they wanted to."

"Wait," Alrich demanded, brain finally wrapping around everyone's words. "Are you saying you can talk to animals?"

"It's a Jedi thing, I believe," Bo-Katan said.

"Yes, I can," Ezra said matter of factly. "All Jedi can, to some extent, but Kanan says I'm better than most. And it's not talk so much as communicate feelings and impressions. The purrgil though, they TALKED to me. Telepathically. They're really quite amazing. It's kind of like the Ghost, an A.I. computer, and a space whale decided to get together and have a baby. That's what the purrgil are like."

"How come you never told us the purrgils were intelligent?" Hera demanded. "I thought you were just commanding them like you do with all the other animals you encounter."

Ezra shrugged and winced some more. "I didn't think you'd believe me, so I didn't bother?"

Hera and Kanan sighed in unison. "Of course we believe you," Hera said soothingly. "Though this brings up some interesting issues about what to do with the purrgil race."

"Someone can have that debate at another time," Kanan told her. "For now, it's nice to know we have a viable option to chase Thrawn's fleet from the system. And we all know the purrgil are more than capable of scaring the living daylights out of any ship's Captain, so it should work."

"That's settled then," Sabine said happily. "My plan really does look like it will work, doesn't it? Everyone's happy with my ideas?" She received a series of nods and, "I ams," mostly in synch.

"I think your ideas are brilliant," Ezra said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and giving her a half hug and a kiss on the cheek. "But I'm not surprised at all; your ideas are always brilliant."

"Suck up," Sabine replied to him fondly, putting her own arm around his waist and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Yep." Ezra said with a grin. "And proud of it." He kissed the top of her head and sighed happily into her hair. "Force, it's nice to be able to hold you without a really good excuse like the time you twisted your ankle. I've been dreaming of doing this for years."

That elicited a round of laughter as Sabine's face turned red and she hid it in his shirt. "So I'm a little slow," she mumbled into it. "Feel free to sue me."

Ezra chuckled. "I wouldn't dare," he said, hugging her more fully by adding a second arm. "You could talk circles around a lawyer in your sleep."

Sabine looked up at him and laughed. "Very true."

Kanan, Hera, Alrich, and even Fenn were watching the absolute adorableness that was blossoming right in front of them with that happy and indulgent look parents have. Bo-Katan was wondering how she'd gone for so many years without finding a mate to hug and tease like that. She glanced at Fenn assessingly yet again, thinking that she might just have found someone to fill the empty space in her life. Maybe she should corner him somewhere private and try kissing him to see if there was any chemistry. From the way he'd been looking at her, she didn't think he'd mind.

Feeling rather content with how everything was working out, Kanan turned his focus back to Chopper and thus Hera's hologram. "It sounds like things are pretty much decided here for the time being, Hera. Why don't you try and get a few more hours of sleep?"

Hera raised a brow at him, even though he couldn't see it. "You're not trying to get rid of me, are you?"

"Wouldn't think of it, darling," Kanan said reassuringly. "I'm just trying to be helpful."

Hera snorted, then said teasingly, "You keep telling yourself that, love. Sometimes, it might even be true." She focused on the group as whole again. "Is Kanan right, though? Are we done for now?"

That inspired everyone to look at each other with questioning eyes and shrugging shoulders.

Bo-Katan made the decision by saying, "I'd say we're done here, Captain Syndulla. Have Command contact me to talk about an alliance."

"Will do. Thank you, Mand'alor Kryze."

Bo-Katan nodded regally. "You're welcome. But please, feel free to call me by my given name in informal settings like this."

Hera smiled. "Of course, Bo-Katan. And please call me Hera." Bo-Katan nodded. Hera gave everyone one last glance. "Goodbye for now then. I'll be in touch." She gave Kanan an extra special smile that he unfortunately couldn't see. "Thank you for calling me, Kanan. I'm glad I got to be part of this. Come back as soon as you can talk Ezra into it. I'm going to catch a few more hours of sleep."

Kanan smiled sweetly back. "Night, Hera."

Ezra, Sabine, and Chopper then added to the well-wishing by all saying, "Night, Hera," too at the exact same time.

Hera smiled at her 'kids'. "Be good, my little Spectres. Oh, and I'm happy you've finally gotten together. I'm proud of you," she said, her eyes shining even through the hologram. Then she disappeared as she turned off the comm from her end.

* * *

While Hera was talking, Bo-Katan had raised an amused brow at the synchronous 'good nights' and said quietly to Fenn, "You'd think they'd practiced that."

Fenn shook his head. "Not so much practiced on purpose as practiced from doing it for so long. They really are a family."

"I think I see that."

Alrich sighed forlornly. "I know I do. I'm glad my daughter found a new family, but it hurts more than I can say to know that she had to look for one in the first place."

"Makes you wish there was a do-over button, doesn't it?" Bo-Katan said sympathetically.

Alrich nodded and sighed again, watching his daughter and the two Jedi huddle together around the astromech and have their own conversation. "After watching them for only a day, I've already seen how much they all love each other. I'm sure she sees Master Jarrus as a second father and I can guarantee she's never looked at Ursa with as much fondness as she just did Captain Syndulla. If there was such a thing as a do-over button, I would refuse to let Ursa send Sabine to the Academy, despite how smart she is. Everything would be so different now if she'd never left home."

"If it's any consolation, Alrich," Fenn said softly, "Despite everything she's gone through, she's turned into a remarkable young woman. You and Ursa obviously did something right for the first twelve years of her life so she had a solid foundation of strength and integrity to build on and get her through to this point. Yes. She found a new family, but they're a good family. She could be working for Black Sun right now or sitting in a prison somewhere if it weren't for them. I would just be thankful to have her back and count yourself fortunate for every day you get to spend with her from now on." His mouth quirked up and his voice took on a teasing tone. "And just think, with the way she and Bridger look at each other, you'll get grandbabies to play with sooner than later, I'll bet."

Alrich beamed like a ray of sunshine at the idea.

* * *

Jett watched the Mand'alor's Kom'rk fly away with his men in it, on their way to Sundari. There, they would buy new bodysuits and paint and get the fighter fixed properly. It had gone into battle with just a patch job by Sabine. Now, after the space battle, the fighter was as close to limping through the sky as a flying object can get. The men could paint their armour while the waited for the mechanics to put new parts in the ship.

When he'd asked Kryze for a means of transport to the city, since their jetpacks were basically out of fuel, she had volunteered her personal ship, providing they took the time to find a good mechanic. Jett had thought it a fair trade and agreed quickly.

As far as his own armour was concerned, he was still hoping he could convince the lovely Countess Wren to paint it for him if he supplied the paint. As the new Count of Clan Saxon, he would need a perfectly painted set of armour with many embellishments. It would only be fitting that Sabine painted his armour for him if she was going to be his wife. And, from what little he'd seen so far, she was a brilliant artist on top of everything else she excelled at. Did the woman have no flaws? No weaknesses?

Not as far as he could tell.

She really was perfect for him.

Jett shrugged his shoulders slightly to settle the borrowed grey tunic into place better as he turned around to face the camp again and go in search of Sabine. He'd also asked Kryze if she happened to know where he could locate a quick change of clothes. After a flash of sorrow had crossed her face, she'd said the last cabin in her ship had clothes he could have. They had belonged to her nephew, but he'd died yesterday by the Duchess and he wouldn't be needing them anymore. Jett had winced in sympathy and gave her his condolences on the loss of the semi legendary Korkie Kryze. As far as keeping the clothes, that wasn't going to happen. He'd make sure he returned the tunic to the cabin as soon as a new bodysuit arrived for him to wear.

One that wasn't white. Yay. What a stupid colour for soldiers to wear. (Unless you were on a snow planet.)

As he walked back into camp, Jett noticed that the atmosphere had changed from celebratory to... gossiping? That was the best description he could come up with. People were literally whispering behind their hands to other people.

What had happened in the last ten minutes to cause this?

Aiming for the Command Tent, he sidled up to a warrior near it dressed in Wren colours and was clearly using his helmet to blatantly eavesdrop on whatever was going on inside the tent.

"What's happening now?" Jett asked in a conspiratorial whisper, pretending he already knew the gist of whatever was going on.

Shubin Wren glanced at the unfamiliar guy who'd shown up beside him before focusing on the tent again. "Kryze just admitted that Sabine's plan is ambitious but not insane. It looks like she's going to support Sabine's plan to take Lothal from the Empire." Personally, he thought the idea had merit. Who wouldn't want to move to a warmer planet?

Jett blinked but kept his expression neutral out of sheer training. "Wow. I didn't think she'd go for it," he commented calmly. Meanwhile, his brain was going a million lightyears an hour. Why would Sabine want to fight for a rinky dink planet like Lothal? Aside from the mining operations, the planet had no redeeming qualities as far as he knew. Wait. Lothal. Wasn't that the planet Grand Admiral Thrawn was currently blockading personally? There had to be something of great interest there for such a high ranking Imperial to pay such attention to it. Maybe Sabine had a really good reason to go after the planet.

Perhaps he should support her endeavours once he had command of the Saxon warriors. That certainly couldn't hurt his quest to win her over for himself.

"Neither did I," Shubin said distractedly, his attention divided between listening and talking. "But Sabine came up with a feasible plan of attack that sounds like it might actually..." His voice trailed off as he tried to process what the Jedi had just suggested. Did he actually say use PURRGIL to get rid of a fleet of Star Destroyers? No way in a thousand shabla hells was anyone going to believe this.

Shubin glanced around at the other warriors also eavesdropping and saw them all stiffen as well. Yep. They didn't believe it either. The Jedi was nuts.

"What is it?" Jett said, dying of curiosity. He really wished he hadn't left his helmet on Kryze's ship right now.

"The Countess' Jedi just suggested using purrgil to chase Thrawn's fleet from Lothal space. And... he just said they were intelligent beings that owed him a favour and were not actually animals at all."

"What?!" Jett exclaimed.

Shubin nodded slowly, eyes super wide behind his visor. "I know, right?"

"Holy osik!"

"My thoughts exactly." Shubin commiserated.

"Now what are they saying?" Jett said eagerly.

Shubin mentally played back what he'd heard while they'd been talking. "Ummm. Nothing too important. It seems the Jedi and the Countess' relationship is fairly new and he's giving her a hug or something. The Mand'alor and someone called Captain Hera Syndulla are now on a first name basis. Now they're saying good night. Syndulla's proud of her 'little spectres', which I'm guessing are the Countess and the younger Jedi, and she approves of their relationship." Shubin smirked a little at his younger cousin once-removed being called a 'little spectre' because it suited her. He remembered her as a child as being VERY good at causing mischief and being almost impossible to catch in the act.

Jett hmmpphed noncommittally, unenthused about the idea of Sabine being affectionate with the Jedi. "Anything else?"

Shubin shook his head. "Not really. They've split into two separate conversation groups and it's hard to focus on them both. It all sounds like generic stuff anyway," he said, not wanting to get into family dynamics with a stranger. The conversation his cousin's husband was having with Fenn was private enough that the whole galaxy didn't need to know it. And it sounded like Sabine and the two Jedi were just talking about time schedules. It looked like they'd be heading for Krownest within the hour. And from there... He wasn't sure. Was everyone splitting up? He'd missed some words while trying to focus on too much at once.

Now focused entirely on the stranger, Shubin tilted his head slightly. "Hey. Who are you anyway?"

Jett wondered if he should give a fake name, since he hadn't exactly been well received so far, but decided to just stick with the truth since this guy from the Wren Clan would inevitably be encountered again once he made Sabine his. "I'm Jett Hark of Clan Saxon, Captain of what's left of my Super Commandoes."

Shubin eyeballed the man suspiciously for a moment. "Ahh, one of the traitors who's come back to the correct side of the fence, and very wisely lost most of that Imperial white. Tristan spoke well enough of you. Said you weren't as fanatically stupid as Gar and Tiber Saxon." He pulled his helmet off and tucked it under his arm, revealing a man in his thirties with dark brown hair in a short style and warm brown eyes that clearly marked him as a Wren family member. He held out his hand. "Shubin Wren. Nice to meet you."

Jett smiled and grasped the man's wrist and they gripped each other tight for a moment then let go. Intros now done, Jett nodded towards the tent again. "Sooooo, what do you think of your Countess choosing a Jedi for her future husband?"

Shubin glanced at Jett, not liking the barely disguised bitterness in his tone, but dismissed it as a generic dislike of Jedi, which almost every Mando could claim. He shrugged slightly. "To be honest, I don't think it's the smartest choice she's ever made. But to be fair, Ezra Bridger has been instrumental in returning Sabine and Alrich to the Wren clan, as well as saving her life on multiple occasions, according to her. From what little time I've spent with him, he seems like a nice enough sort. A little immature still, and maybe not the smartest bulb in the box, but nothing like the slavering, Mando eating Jedi we've been taught to hate. His Master is quite likable as well, and Fenn Rau speaks very highly of them. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Sabine's Jedi is all right and worthy of respect until he proves otherwise. I will support her choice."

While Shubin was speaking, Jett watched the tent. A small herd of people finally emerged, Sabine and her young Jedi at the back of the pack, holding hands and whispering with their heads close to each other, walking much slower than the others. The sight rubbed him every kind of the wrong way. Because, no matter what Shubin Wren or any of the others said, a proper Mando should NEVER lower themselves to marrying a Jedi scum. Jett felt like it was his DUTY to stop this before it went any further. "Well, I will not," he nearly spat. "She deserves so much better than a shabla Jedi."

Shubin's eyes widened in alarm as Jett stormed towards the couple, his fists clenched, and a fierce look on his face. "This can't be good," he mumbled to himself and ran after him, plunking his helmet back on and sending a heads up to the other two Wren warriors that were around here somewhere, telling them to get their shebs over to the Command Tent on the double.

* * *

Ezra grabbed Sabine's hand and held her back as everyone else left the tent so they would be at the end of the group. He smiled sweetly when she looked at him questioningly. He laced their fingers together, still thrilling that he now had the right to do so, and picked up a meandering stroll, leaning his head close to hers. "I just wanted to thank you profusely for what you just did. Even if none of our plans work, I'll always be grateful to you for trying. You have to know this means everything to me."

Sabine shook her head slightly, a light flush of pleasure at his words brightening her cheeks becomingly. "Of course I know how much Lothal means to you. We've been fighting for it for years. And you need to believe our plans will work, because I vowed we'd free it, and you know I never break a vow."

Ezra grinned, eyes twinkling at her mischievously. "Like the time you refused sleep for three days cause you vowed you wouldn't rest until both the Ghost and the Phantom 2 had matching new paint jobs? Or what about the time you vowed you'd get Zeb and I to do all your chores for you for a week and proceeded to trick or bet us into doing every single one without us being the wiser until Kanan told us at the end, laughing like mad while he did so?"

Sabine grinned back. "Just like that."

"And that's one of the reasons I adore you," Ezra said softly. "No one is more determined than you, cyar'ika."

Being so focused on Sabine, Ezra only felt the barest hint of a warning from the Force before he was shoved roughly away from her as a furious Captain Hark came out of apparently nowhere.

"You're not good enough for her! " Jett exclaimed as Ezra stumbled back a couple steps before catching his balance and looking at him in surprise. "You're just a boy and a Jedi scumbag! And do you even know what cyar'ika means?! I bet not."

* * *

Kanan was only absently paying attention to the Force around him as he focused more on remembering images of Hera and imagining what she looked like right now as she lay back down to go to sleep. He might not be able to see her beautiful features in real life anymore, but at least he had his memories to call upon. His dreams of her were also in full, glorious colour, and those he carefully tucked away into his precious store of memories.

He was jarred out of his imaginings as a malevolent being in the Force bore down on Ezra and Sabine behind him. "Uh oh," Kanan mumbled, catching the attention of Fenn, Alrich, Chopper, and Bo-Katan. He turned around in time to see the angry aura of a man push Ezra's aura away from Sabine's. Kanan immediately strode back to the confrontational group in time to catch Captain Hark's words.

"What's your problem, Captain Hark?" Kanan said calmly, putting a hand on his arm to prevent the Captain from attacking further.

"Yes, what is your problem?" Sabine demanded. "The only one who gets to decide who's good enough for me is ME!"

"I'd think through your next few words very carefully if I were you," Bo-Katan said as she caught up to the action, crossing her arms over her chest and giving the man in question a withering stare.

Jett crossed his arms over his chest as well, since practically everyone else was, and reined in his temper out of sheer determination. He didn't want to anger the new Mand'alor. "I do not believe that Countess Wren has picked a mate worthy of her. And as such, I call on the right to challenge the Jedi for the honour of courting her."

The quickly assembling crowd that was drawn to confrontation like flies to dead meat ooooed and gasped, many nodding their heads in agreement.

"Can he do that?" Ezra asked Sabine in a stage whisper, leaning towards her.

Sabine winced in apology. "Unfortunately, yes. I probably should have warned you this might happen, but I thought we'd have more time before anyone got around to doing so. I intended to have us married before it came to this."

Ezra's eyes widened almost comically. "You did?! Karabast! Oh, wow." He smiled widely as that sunk in, reaching up and cupping her cheek lovingly. "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, Sabine Wren." His smile widened when she gasped in surprise at what he hoped was a half decent pronunciation of the Mandalorian version of a vow of undying love. "Yes, I learnt that for you." Ezra shot a smirk in Hark's direction as the man scowled in disgust. "And yes, to answer your question from before, I do know what cyar'ika means too. It means Sabine is my beloved soulmate and the term of affection is not used lightly. I'm just as capable of looking up Mando'a on the holonet as the next guy."

Kanan, Fenn, and Alrich snickered as Hark's scowl turned positively ugly and he more or less growled out, "Fine. So you're not completely stupid. But that doesn't mean you're worthy to be anywhere near her. I challenge you to a duel, Bridger, and if you lose, you have to give up all romantic inclinations towards her."

"I guess I better not lose, then," Ezra said, determination settling in. "How are we doing this? Swords? Blasters at twenty paces? A race around the planet on a speeder bike? A dogfight in space with Gauntlets? What?"

Sabine couldn't help but snort in suppressed laughter at some of the options Ezra came up with despite the gravity of the situation. She noticed quite a few others shaking with amusement as well. Only Ezra could turn such a serious situation into something fun. Force, why did it take her so long to realize she loved him?

Jett was not amused. "None of the above, di'kut. We fight hand to hand until someone gives up. No weapons. No Force tricks. Anything else goes." Then he whipped his tunic and undershirt off over his head and tossed them aside, leaving him in just his white bodysuit leggings.

Ezra blinked at the very bare muscular chest and arms that had a fair number of scars traversing the pale skin. "All righty then. I guess we're doing this shirtless." He unbuckled his utility belt and handed the whole thing, including his lightsabre and blaster, to Sabine. Then he pulled his big folding knife out of his boot and handed that to her as well. He smirked as Hark scowled once again. "Present from Sabine for my sixteenth birthday. I don't go anywhere without it," he explained cheekily.

Jett sneered. "And when was that? Yesterday?"

Ezra laughed as he unzipped his orange and beige jacket, adding it to the pile accumulating on Sabine's free arm. (As usual, her helmet was tucked under her other arm.) "Try two years and three days ago, di'kut. Yes, I know that one too. Sabine used to call me that all the time." He winked at her, letting her know he didn't mind. Then he pulled his black t-shirt off over his head, leaving him just as half naked as the other guy, and placed it on top of his other things.

Sabine couldn't help but compare Ezra's physique against Hark's. The Mando's was impressive, yes, but was to be expected, considering his occupation. Ezra's was... getting there. He was still leaner than he could be, but what he did have was ripped tight muscles that looked more than capable, including a very nice six pack. He just needed a few more years to finish growing so he could fill out properly. And his muscles were covered in lovely copper skin that shone in the sunlight, looking far more attractive than Hark's pasty skin. Add the odd mouth-watering scar here and there and Ezra won the contest in her mind easily. (Now if only that was all it took for him to win the duel.)

Jett's scowl felt permanently attached to his face as he noticed that Sabine only glanced at him before returning all her attention to that... wimp. "Wow. If that's the case, then I might actually feel a little sorry for you. You certainly don't look eighteen. Tristan Wren was a year younger than you and was almost twice as big. Whatever swamp you come from, they must not grow them very tall."

Ezra smiled, letting the insults roll off him from a lifetime of experience of being belittled. Having some good old Jedi calm helped a lot too. "I'm just a late bloomer. If you must know, I'm still growing, and my dad was taller than you, so I'm not worried." He walked right up to the other man, who was about ten centimetres taller, and crossed his arms over his bare chest. "Sooooo, are we going to have a duel of insults, then? Cause I'm up for that. Or do you want to do something a little more productive? I have things to do and places to go. Annnnddd, MY girl apparently wants to marry me and not a Neanderthal, sooooo..."

Jett lost his temper. The BRAT deserved the pummelling he was about to deliver. Jett growled and rushed at the Jedi, wanting to knock him down to the ground and beat that smirk right off his face.

Ezra calmly sidestepped the battering ram impersonating as a human and turned and watched as he scrambled to keep his feet when he didn't hit a target. The crowd of onlookers immediately backed up into a rough circle, giving them an arena of sorts and started hooting and cheering. "I'm surprised, Captain Hark. I would have thought you had better training than that. Or maybe it's because you've been impersonating an Imperial for too long. They're notoriously bad at fighting and shooting. That kind of thing must be catching." Ezra hadn't even uncrossed his arms yet.

Sabine tried to keep her grin down to just a small smile, but she failed miserably. Ezra was going to wipe the floor with this mir'osik. She happened to know for a fact that Ezra was VERY well trained in hand to hand combat. Aside from learning dirty tricks on the streets as a kid, he'd spent a month undercover in the Imperial Academy, she'd taught him everything she knew, Rex had taught him everything HE knew (and that was A LOT), Kanan had thrown in a few more moves that he'd been taught at the Temple specifically designed for Force users, he'd gone up against Zeb and not died, and he'd even sparred with Fenn a few times. Ezra was one of the most well rounded combatants she'd ever seen. He just didn't use the skills very often since he preferred showing off with his lightsabre and mind tricks whenever he could.

Hark was going down.

Jett looked at all the Mandos watching him expectantly and forced himself to calm down. The boy was frustratingly correct. He HAD made a very stupid opening move. He wouldn't make the same mistake again. Jett faced the Jedi and walked back up to him in a purposeful manner and once again stopped when they were face to face. He nodded slightly in the barest possible show of respect and then assumed a proper opening fighting stance, hands up with fingers loosely curled and feet spread and balanced, turning half sideways to his opponent.

Ezra raised a brow and copied the stance. "This is more what I was expecting. Your Mando ancestors can stop rolling in their graves now."

Jett kept hold of his temper by a very thin thread. "If you shut up, I'll promise not to hurt you TOO much. You might even be able to walk when we're done."

Ezra's smirk returned. "We'll see who's walking and who's not, won't we?" And with that, Ezra threw the first punch, almost faster than the eye could follow, clocking Jett in the jaw, whipping his head to the side.

Jett went with the momentum, spinning all the way around on his foot and delivering a kick that Ezra blocked.

The crowd cheered and the fight was ON.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Sabine was close to gnawing through her lower lip, she'd chewed on it so much. Ezra and Hark were still going at it, their sweaty bodies covered in the red dirt of Mandalore, and their jaws set in a determined way that said neither was anywhere near finished. Ezra was sporting a black eye and he was limping more than a little from where Hark had kicked him in the back of his left knee. Hark's lip was bleeding and he was definitely favouring his right arm. He was rarely using it, now relying almost entirely on kicks and left handed punches.

"Hark's in pain," Kanan said quietly from his spot beside Sabine, having settled beside her when the circle was formed. "I can feel it."

"Yah, but Ezra's limping," Sabine whispered back.

Kanan leaned over and whispered so no one else could hear, "He's faking. There's no real pain in his signature."

Sabine's eyes widened fractionally before she schooled her expression. "Street rat," she whispered with amusement.

Kanan nodded, his mouth twitching at the corner as he held back a grin.

"Okay, Ez. Wrap this up," Sabine said to herself, not wanting to distract Ezra as Hark performed some impressive kicking spins that Ezra had to work to dodge in his current 'incapacitated' state.

Almost like he'd heard her anyway, Ezra suddenly turned the tide on Hark by crouching down on his 'bad' knee and sweeping Hark's feet out from under him. He pounced on the man while he was down, pinning his left arm to the ground under his foot and grabbing the right arm and yanking it back and up, causing Hark to yelp in pain. Ezra dug his knee into the small of Hark's back and yanked the arm higher, twisting the shoulder joint. "Do you yield?"

Hark shook his head quickly, trying to buck Ezra off. Ezra twisted the arm just a little more. "Yield, or I pop this out of joint and maybe break your wrist too, just because." He bent said wrist in a way it was never designed to go as a demonstration, making Hark whine.

Jett panted into the dirt for a minute, deciding if the girl was really worth wrecking his arm yet again. He knew from experience that he could fight without it, but Jett thought back over everything he knew about the Jedi and Sabine and came to the conclusion he just wasn't going to win this one. The Jedi was too good at fighting and the girl was too infatuated with him to ever look at him the way she looked at Bridger. Even if he did manage to remove Bridger from the picture at some point in the future, he had a feeling she'd never look at Jett the way she looked at Bridger. And Jett didn't want some other guy's figurative sloppy seconds. He'd find another warrior girl to make his Countess.

And there was something else to consider: Yesterday, the med droid had told him if he dislocated his shoulder again, he'd need surgery to repair it properly. If he lost the use of his arm while his shoulder and wrist healed, he'd have a very tough time winning the title of Count of Clan Saxon. That was enough to decide it for Jett. "I yield," he said begrudgingly. "Sabine is yours."

Ezra immediately let him go and rose to his feet, then held out a hand for Jett to take and helped the other man up. Ezra grinned at the taller man. "That was a good fight. I enjoyed myself. Thanks." He held out a hand. "No hard feelings?"

Jett stared at the proffered hand in surprise before accepting it, grasping the wrist in the warrior way and feeling an incredibly strong hand for the boy's size grip him in return. "No hard feelings. You have earned my respect, Jedi Bridger. I thought you'd be useless without your lightsabre. I was wrong. Maybe I SHOULD have picked swords."

Ezra laughed. "I've had some incredibly good teachers. Sabine being one of them."

Jett groaned. "I should have known." He shook his head at himself. "I really am the di'kut here."

Ezra laughed again. "You said it." He swiped at some of the dirt sticking to his skin half-heartedly. "Why did we do this shirtless again?"

Jett shook his head, choking on his own laugh. The kid was actually starting to grow on him. No wonder everyone else seemed to like him. "I was trying to impress the girl," he admitted.

Ezra snorted. "Sabine has never been impressed by muscles. Appreciative, yes. Impressed, no." Ezra paused in his dirt swiping. "Speaking of..." He looked out at the crowd, turning around in a circle. "Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me before I go wash all of this off?" he called loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm good for another round or two if someone else really wants to try and win the most beautiful girl in the galaxy. I honestly wouldn't blame you for trying."

The crowd laughed and most shook their heads before starting to disperse. As a whole, the Mando warriors' opinion of the Jedi had risen considerably after watching him fight like one of them and win against a worthy opponent. They would spread the word and the new Countess Wren would most likely never get any flack for her choice of husband. He felt like one of them now.

Kanan smiled as he sensed the general mood of those around him. Ezra had won more than a fight and Sabine's heart this day. He may just have won over an entire nation.

Sabine couldn't contain herself anymore. Ezra looked so kriffing hot right now, all sweaty and dirty and half NAKED. And he'd just called her beautiful and challenged an entire camp full of warriors for her. She NEEDED to touch him. Kiss him. Hold him. NOW.

A bundle of clothes, weapons, and a helmet was suddenly thrust into Kanan's arms and he chuckled to himself as Sabine ran over to Ezra and jumped on him, wrapping her limbs around him as he caught her, and then kissing him enthusiastically despite their audience. Kanan's brows rose as their signatures almost literally merged into just one being, their colours blending together in perfect harmony. He'd have to ask Ezra if he and Hera did the same, cause it sure felt like it.

"I hope you've been recording all this for Hera to see," Kanan said quietly to Chopper.

"Of course," Chopper beeped brightly from the vicinity of Kanan's knees. "I record practically everything you ridiculous organics do."

Kanan laugh groaned. "Much to my chagrin."

Sabine pulled back from Ezra's mouth when the need for air was making her feel lightheaded. Or maybe that was just how much love she was feeling right now. She smiled at him beatifically. "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, Ezra Bridger. You just keep surprising me and I gotta say, I think I like it."

Ezra returned her smile, brushing a strand of cream coloured hair off her forehead as his other arm tightened slightly around her back. "I have one more thing to surprise you with, Sabine." He paused for breath and a little courage and then said (hoping his pronunciation wasn't awful), "Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde."

Sabine's eyes widened in surprise as he started speaking and then settled into heavy lidded desire by the time he was done. She repeated his vows as soon as he was done. "Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde."

The crowd had been leaving, but word spread quickly that the Jedi was spouting proper wedding vows. They rushed back and cheered loudly when Sabine sealed the vows with another minutes long kiss. Someone started up a chant of, " Feast! Feast! Feast!" and soon the whole camp was ringing with the combined voices of many different clans.

Fenn nudged Alrich and nodded with his chin at the couple at the centre of the chanting circle. "See. I told you you'd get grandbabies soon," he teased.

Alrich turned his suspiciously shiny eyes to his new friend and smiled shakily. "My daughter has done well. I wish Ursa and Tristan were here to see this."

Fenn clasped the man's shoulder comfortingly, expression falling into serious. "Perhaps they are. Who knows what they get to see from the bounds of the Afterlife?"

Alrich's smile brightened considerably. "I like that thought. Thank you."

Jett shook his head to himself as he found his undershirt and borrowed tunic trampled into the dirt. He shook them out as he watched Sabine and Bridger out of his peripheral vision, not quite able to gaze upon them full on because it made him feel like an absolute idiot. Seeing them now, locked together like that, like they were never going to stop kissing the other short of a Star Destroyer crashing beside them, he could see that his quest to win Sabine had been futile from the start. They truly loved each other, and a bond like that just wasn't something one should mess with.

On the other hand, Jett had finally figured out what Sabine's weakness was; her Jedi. If anyone were ever to exploit that fact, they would have some serious leverage against her. He assumed it was safe to think the same could be said for the Jedi. To love that much, you opened yourself up to a great deal of possible pain. But it just might be worth it, he decided, seeing the newly married couple pause for breath and just stare at each other like they'd found their own personal slice of heaven.

Now all Jett needed to do was find his own piece of heaven. He hoped she was as badass as the new Countess Wren.

Bo-Katan raised the Darksabre in the air and the hundreds of warriors gradually hushed, even the newly married couple parting and looking at her respectively, only their joined hands keeping them together now. "Yesterday was a day of tragedy. Today is a day of triumph. Tomorrow will be a day of victory and all of the tomorrows after that as we stand together as a united Mandalore once again." Bo-Katan's voice rang loud and true across the camp and people cheered again until she raised the Darksabre again for silence. "Now, as you so rightfully suggested, we shall feast and celebrate so we can fight again tomorrow, knowing in our hearts that Mandalore will always reign triumphant against its foes!"

The cheers of the warriors were deafening as Sabine and Ezra snuck away towards the Gauntlet while everyone was distracted. Only one noticed their escape, his eyes unseeing behind his mask as he smiled in contentment at the very rightness of how everything felt right now, the Force swirling happily through him. Kanan followed the young couple at a respectful distance, placing the pile of clothes and weapons at the top of the Gauntlet's ramp before walking back down and closing the ramp with a wave of his hand. They deserved their privacy for a few stolen hours.

Kanan wandered out of the camp, seeking a quiet place to meditate. The others could celebrate in their way. Kanan would celebrate in his; with the Force, since Hera wasn't available.

* * *

_Mandalorian translations:_

_Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum - I know you in my heart forever. (Or literally; I hold in my heart you forever.)_

_Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde. - We are one when together, we are one when parted, we will share all, we will raise warriors._


	9. Explorations in a Refresher

**A/N: This chapter has been expanded. :D**

* * *

**Explorations In A Refresher:**

Ezra's head felt like it was in the clouds, he was flying so high on happy endorphins. He wasn't really sure how he'd gotten so lucky, but in the course of only one cycle of Mandalore around its star, Sabine had changed their relationship from 'friends only' to 'holy poodoo, we're a COUPLE!' And now... Now they were bonded and MARRIED!

Ezra just couldn't believe it.

Yes, he'd done his research and looked up the Mandalorian vows out of sheer wishful thinking years ago, but not on purpose. He'd actually been looking for Mando'a endearments to impress the beautiful and oh so badass girl, even as Sabine was turning down his attempts at flirting over and over and ever so painfully over again. He'd never found just the right time to use those endearments because they were so much more than just your average 'sweetie' or 'babe'. But they and the wedding vows he'd stumbled upon always lingered in the back of his mind because Ezra had just KNOWN that she was the only girl for him. She'd just felt so right, so perfect. And Ezra had learnt from a very young age to listen to his instincts because they were always right. He now knew that what he'd been listening to was the Force and its helpful whispers.

And man, was he ever grateful that he had when it came to Sabine.

Roughly three and a half mostly patient years after meeting her, he was being led by a secretly smiling Sabine up the ramp of the Gauntlet, down a hallway, past half a dozen doors, and then into the only big cabin that he'd claimed as his own for obvious reasons. (It was his ship after all.) From there, she continued boldly on, right into the small private refresher.

Ezra was now on the verge of freaking out. He had no idea what she intended to happen but he was hard as a rock in his pants at the endless possibilities zipping through his mind. How far was she intending for them to go? Technically, they were married now, and that usually came with certain benefits. But they'd only been 'together' for ONE day. No matter how much he wanted to just grab her and bury himself in her with zero preliminaries, even his foggy, lust addled mind knew that full on consummation was seriously rushing things.

For now, Ezra would content himself with just getting to hold her a little more, and receiving a few of those amazing kisses wouldn't be frowned upon either.

But he soon discovered that Sabine had other ideas. Really, really, good ideas.

* * *

Sabine let go of her new husband's (Holy osik! She was married!) hand once they were in the refresher and the door had closed behind them. She turned and faced him and pointedly looked him up and down as she crossed her arms over her chest, her mouth watering at how sexy he looked all streaked with sweat and dirt. "Kay, Ez. Strip."

Ezra visibly gulped and stared at her with wide eyes. (Okay, more like one wide eye and one squinty eye cause his left one was barely open, but whatever.) "What?"

Sabine smirked. "You heard me, husband. Strip. You can't take a proper shower with the rest of your clothes still on."

Ezra gulped again as his hands reached for the fastener on his pants. "If you're sure?" He had no problem showing Sabine the rest of his body, but it seemed like a massive leap forward in the relationship curve to him.

Sabine rolled her eyes at him. "Would I have said it if I didn't mean it?" her tone bordering on exasperation.

Ezra shook his head quickly. "No. No. You're right. Stupid question. You only say what you mean. I know that." His hands were still hovering on the fastener.

"And you're not moving because...?" A single shapely purple brow rose to nearly her hairline in an impressive show of talent.

Ezra jumped back into motion like he'd been zapped by Chopper, whisking his pants down to his ankles in two seconds flat. He flushed red in embarrassment immediately after as he realized his boots were in the way. "Karabast," he muttered, bending over and undoing the boots so he could awkwardly toe them off with his pants hindering his movements. He turned even redder as Sabine giggled softly.

"Real smooth there, Ezra. It's a good thing you're not trying to impress me."

Ezra suppressed the urge to growl out loud. Of course he was trying to impress her. He was ALWAYS trying to impress her. Finally free of his boots and pants, he stood up straight once more, now clad in only his tight black undershorts.

Sabine eyed him appreciatively, liking the strong muscles in his thighs and calves, the big and narrow feet with cute toes, and most definitely the v of his hip bones that disappeared inside the low waistband of his shorts and pointed the way to a very nice bulge in his crotch area. "Me likey. Now let's see the rest. I want to know what I just attached myself to for the rest of our lives."

Ezra couldn't believe how calm she was being about all this. He was in a refresher with her. ALONE. And he was stripping naked. He was on the verge of hyperventilating. Only his meditation training was keeping him from flat out fainting from lack of air. But it wasn't doing a thing to keep him from being both incredibly turned on and scared out of his mind. Needing some reassurance that he wasn't alone in this crazy moment, he peeked at her feelings via their bond and instantly felt a wave of relief; Sabine was just as turned on and scared as he was, but she was doing a phenomenal job of hiding it behind her tough girl persona.

"Okay." Controlling the trembling in his fingers out of sheer willpower alone, Ezra pushed his undershorts down and kicked them off to the side with his boots and pants. Then he had to school himself into making some sort of attempt at looking confident and not huddle over himself in a pathetic instinct to hide, drawing strength from the fact that she was feeling the same things he was whether she showed it or not.

Sabine blinked as she got her first up close and personal look at an intelligent being's cock. (Pictures, holovids, and random animals didn't count.) It was both ugly and beautiful in a weird way, being kind of purple and veiny. It was a work of art only someone physically attached to it would love. Sabine realized she was going to be included in that category sometime in the very near future which made her snort in amusement. She was also quite thankful that she was a girl and didn't have to deal with having a dick flopping around between her legs all the time. How annoying that must be. And from a fighter's point of view, it was definitely a weak link in the evolution of humanoids. Keeping it in a sheath like an animal seemed like a much more practical idea.

"I know it's kind of got a mind of its own, but you don't need to laugh at it," Ezra said, all offended and on the verge of diving for his shorts and pulling them back on.

Sabine shook her head quickly, realizing her mistake at once and making a mental note to herself to never laugh in any fashion that might be misconstrued as making fun of Ezra's manhood. "No, Ez'ika. I wasn't laughing at you. I was just thinking your cock was a work of art, I swear."

Ezra relaxed a fraction, but kept up the suspicious glare anyway. "Then what were you laughing at?"

Sabine took the step that separated them and put her hand on his chest, looking up at him with sincere eyes. "Myself. Nothing for you to worry about." Her eyes were drawn down to the pad of muscle her hand was resting on and she smiled coyly. "Why don't you step into the shower? I want to see all of the wonderful masterpiece that is you glistening with water." Her finger traced a pattern over his chest as she spoke, prompting another audible gulp from Ezra. Her hand trailed up to his shoulder and then cupped the back of his head, pulling his mouth down to hers for a quick kiss.

The kiss turned into a very long one as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side, Ezra's other large hand cupped her jaw and cheek tenderly. Now this, he understood. Kissing was definitely in his comfort zone and helped him forget how unfair it was that he was butt naked while she was still fully dressed. The only thing missing from her body right now was her helmet.

Sabine moaned into Ezra's mouth, wondering how he had taken control of the kiss and noticing that she was now basically straddling one of his hard thighs. As she leaned even closer into him, her centre rubbed against his thigh, sending pleasant shocks through her and making her core clench in need. Oh, stars, that was good. Within moments she had herself plastered to him and was rocking against his thigh over and over as their tongues duelled in a corresponding fashion.

She didn't realize she'd become so mindless with passionate need until she felt her muscles clench in an approaching climax. By that point, she didn't want to stop. But she also wanted to include Ezra in the experience. Parting their lips for a moment, she grabbed his hand off her face and placed it between her legs where she wanted it. "Rub me, Ez," she panted.

Ezra started in surprise, then did as she asked, not really able to feel any details of what he was touching through her clothes, but it seemed like it was sufficient enough for her. He drank in her beautiful features; skin flushed with pleasure, fiery dark amber eyes fully dilated with arousal, lips slightly swollen and parted as she gasped and whined quietly with each rock of her hips against his hand, all topped by the cream and purple hair that was beginning to stick to her forehead from the heat they were generating between them.

He was panting too, his cock throbbing against her thigh and being stimulated with every movement she made. In less than half a minute of riding his fingers, Sabine's eyes closed and she stiffened and stilled, moaning softly. Ezra froze, captivated by how gorgeous she looked as she came and by the amazing amount of Force energy she was throwing off right now. Kriff, he was the luckiest guy in the galaxy.

As Sabine came back to her senses, she pulled back with a gasp, eyes wide in shock. She'd never been able to get herself off that fast before on her own. Not even close. "Holy poodoo, Ezra! That was kriffing amazing!"

Ezra drew her a step forward again and hugged her, smiling like a happy lothcat into her hair and ignoring his protesting dick for being shut down for the moment. "I wish I could take some credit for that, Sabine, but I think you did that all your own."

Sabine flushed in instinctive mortification before pushing it aside, knowing that was silly now. They were a team, best friends, and not that far away from literally being joined at the hip. She could be mature about this. Sort of. She took a deep breath and peeked up at his face, seeing only love and need in his eyes. "I guess I got kind of carried away in the moment and how kriffing hot you are. I swear it wasn't my intention to hump your leg like a horny mooka."

Ezra chuckled softly, running his fingers through her silky hair. "You can hump me anyway or anywhere you want to, cyar'ika. I promise I won't ever protest."

Sabine giggled, rubbing her forehead into the crook of his shoulder and inhaling his musk and dirt scent greedily. "I might just hold you to that, babe." Feeling better about her crazy behaviour and realizing that she'd come but he hadn't, Sabine kicked into action once again.

She gently pushed him backward until he was in the shower stall then stepped out of it, hitting the button to turn it on as she did so. Then she very slowly and sensuously (she hoped) started to remove her weapons and armour one piece at a time.

Ezra barely felt the warm water raining over his head as he stared in wide eyed fascination as Sabine started taking off her clothes. He didn't move a muscle, afraid that might make her change her mind. In fact, he was pretty sure he was barely breathing. The only things really moving were his pounding heart, which he could hear thundering in his ears and his twitching cock, which he had only the vaguest control over anymore.

Each new patch of skin revealed to him was like a gift from the stars.

Once the armour and weapons had joined his small pile of clothes on the floor, she toed off her boots, smirking at him slightly in teasing, clearly saying that SHE, at least, could get undressed in the right order.

If Ezra hadn't been so focused on what she'd take off next, he might have muttered something along the lines of, 'show off', but he wasn't capable of even thinking that coherently so he remained mute and motionless.

She went for her socks next, balancing easily on one foot as she pulled the sock off the other. Those were tossed into the pile while Ezra's eyes stared at her cute little feet that had teal painted toenails and looked so incredibly feminine. He'd seen her feet before, many times in fact. He'd even seen her painting her toe nails. But with the new situation, it was like he'd never seen a girl's foot before in his life. And man, were they ever sexy.

The leggings of her bodysuit came next, exposing her long, slender, pale, and shapely legs. Ezra licked his lips to hide the fact that he actually just drooled a little at the sight. Once again, he'd seen them before when she wore shorts to sleep in or when they'd gone swimming on the two whole holidays the Ghost family had taken, but you change the context, and BAM; sexiest legs ever. Her bottom half was now only covered by her tight, purple undershorts that looked very similar to his.

Sabine undid the top of her bodysuit next, peeling it off her arms and tossing it to the side with added flair. Ezra nearly had a heart attack, because she was officially now wearing less than he'd ever seen since her swimsuit had been a one-piece. Her arms were slender but corded with muscle, which he knew, and came from equally slender but strong shoulders.

It was her midriff that he was entirely focused on now.

The girl had a kriffin' six pack. It was faint, but it was there.

Holy. Poodoo.

If Ezra hadn't been in love already, he would have dropped like a rock then and there. He just couldn't stay quiet anymore. "Force, Sabine. You're officially the hottest girl ever."

Sabine paused as she was about to pull her purple sports bra off, tilting her head to the side slightly and raising a brow. "Really? Cause you haven't even seen the best parts yet."

Ezra shrugged slightly and waved a hand in the general direction of her middle. "Muscles, pale golden skin, your figure, your eyes, your face, your Force signature, your badass tough girl act, your caring heart. Do you need more?"

Sabine laughed and pulled off her bra. "No, I guess not. But feel free to add my girls to the list or they'll feel left out."

Ezra stopped breathing again as her breasts were revealed. They were bigger than he'd thought now that they'd been released from their confining clothing. So round and perky and perfect with cute little nipples at their tips. He sucked in air and nodded with wide eyes as his hands clenched unconsciously, wanting so badly to touch them. "Your girls are perfect, cyar'ika. Absolutely perfect. Your hotness just flew off the charts into uncharted territory. No one has ever been as beautiful as you."

"Awwwww, babe. You're so sweet. I think you're really hot too, Ezra." As Sabine shimmied out of her undershorts, she couldn't help but think that if Ezra was this attractive now, he would definitely be off the charts too once he was done growing and filling out. Add the longer version of his midnight blue hair to the mix and she'd have a very hard time keeping other females away from him. The thought of other girls poaching on her territory made her want to tear their hair out in a very girly reaction and it hadn't even happened yet. She shook her head at her inner girly girl and focused on Ezra again and almost laughed before she stopped herself at the last microsecond.

Ezra was actually drooling a little as his mouth hung open in shocked wonder while his eyes were glued to the space in the center of her hip bones and the tops of her thighs. She glanced down, just double checking that her meticulously groomed pubic hair was still in order. It was. "You like my phoenix, Ez?"

Ezra nodded dumbly as the teal and royal blue phoenix flying downwards towards her otherwise bare pussy came closer until it stopped right in front of him. He barely even noticed that his knees had kind of collapsed so that he could look at it better. "This just might be my favourite work of art you've ever done, Sabine," he breathed reverently as he knelt in front of her and water rained down around his head and shoulders unnoticed.

Sabine closed the shower door, locking them in and then ran her hands fondly over his sleek, wet head while he stared at her in adoration. "Thanks, Ez. Feel free to look as much as you want, babe, while I wash your hair, since you're down there anyway."

Ezra did exactly that. But it wasn't long before his attention was divided as her fingers massaged his scalp, sending pleasant thrills through him. He wished he could will his hair to suddenly be longer, remembering what it felt like to have her run her fingers through it when she gave him haircuts and imagining how that would feel so much better in a sexual situation.

Distractions aside, he was convinced that Sabine had the prettiest flower of a pussy possible. Granted, his only experience with them was via the holonet, but he doubted any other female had a better one. It was flushed and soft looking and he could see her clit and the hint of an opening which didn't look anywhere near big enough to even get a finger in, not to mention his dick. She hadn't given him permission to touch it yet, but he couldn't help but at least put his hands on the outside of her thighs, hands stroking slightly and savouring the softness of her skin.

"Stand up, babe, and wash this out properly before it gets in your eyes."

Ezra stifled the urge to sigh at losing his glimpses of paradise and did as she suggested; standing and putting his head under the strongest of the spray and rubbing the shampoo out with his hands vigorously.

While he was doing that, Sabine poured soap into her hands and started rubbing her hands all over his shoulders, arms, and chest, glorying in the smooth skin and hard muscles under her hands. By now, the water had already rinsed off most of the dirt from his fight with Captain Annoying, but she diligently washed every millimetre of his skin anyway all the way down to his bellybutton.

Ezra was in heaven as his own personal angel attended to him. He turned around when she asked and closed his eyes as she washed his back. He startled slightly when she kept going downwards and washed his butt cheeks, her hands pausing there as she pressed a kiss to the center of his back before whispering huskily, "You have a very fine ass, babe. Very fine indeed."

Ezra turned his head over his shoulder and shook it slightly. "Sorry, Sabine, but when it comes to asses, yours wins, hands down." He leered at her round, perfect heart shaped tushy playfully, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Sabine snorted and smacked his butt, rolling her eyes at him. She pushed his face back to the front gently. "Let me finish your bath, di'kut. Then you can leer all you want as you give me one."

Ezra sucked in a breath in anticipation of getting to touch her all over. "Yes, ma'am."

Sabine smacked his butt again. "Cheeky nerfherder."

Ezra grinned as she started washing the back of his legs. "Yep."

Sabine had moved back around to the front of him and had washed his feet and almost finished the front of his second shin before it dawned on her that he didn't have any body hair. She stopped and looked up at him, past the jutting appendage that was determined to make itself known. "Ezra, I hate to ask this, but do you shave all your body hair off?" She knew some girls went that far, but even she didn't bother with shaving the fine hairs off her arms. Keeping up with her legs, armpits, and pubic hair was hassle enough.

Ezra laughed and shook his head at her. "No. I don't have to. I don't grow any."

Sabine stared at him, shocked. "What?!"

"It's true, as you'll find out if we're living together now. I get it from my mom who was only three quarters human, but I don't know what the other quarter was. She had purple eyes and opalescent lavender hair too, from whatever she was. I remember her not having any body hair and her saying to Dad that it saved her hours of the self torture most females put themselves through." He paused and studied Sabine closely, seeing how most of her was bare of hair as well. "Was she right? Is it hours of self torture?"

Sabine laughed without humour as she started washing him again. "Yes. It is, to be perfectly honest, if you add up the minutes over the course of a year. But that's just what we girls do to feel pretty. No girl wants to be compared to a wookiee."

Ezra was appalled. He reached down and put a finger under her chin, making her look up at him again. "I promise, Sabine, if you want to let your body hair just do whatever it wants, I'll still think you're the most beautiful thing ever. You could never look like a wookiee to me."

Sabine smiled softly and kissed his hand before shaking her head once "That's very sweet of you, Ezra, but I do it for myself and no one else. Trust me, if I felt like looking hairy, I would."

"Alright," Ezra said, unconvinced, but let it slide for now.

Sabine paused with her hands on his thigh as another thought occurred to her. "Wait. What about facial hair? You don't grow that either? Is that why I don't remember ever seeing you with stubble on your chin?"

Ezra chuckled again. "No, that I grow. Not like my dad or Kanan, but I can probably grow a goatee or thin beard if you want me to. You don't see me with stubble because it's so sparse and stupid looking that I shave it off constantly."

"Oh. Well. No, I wasn't thinking I wanted you to grow in your facial hair," Sabine said, hands massaging the muscle of his thigh again. "I like the way you look right now. I was just curious."

Ezra was glad to hear it. He doubted he could grow anything decent looking anyway. His focus returned to what Sabine was doing. Despite the random sidetrack of a conversation, he was fully aware of how amazing it felt to have her hands on him and even if he had been dying he wouldn't have missed the fact that she was nearly finished washing everything.

Everything but one last item, that is. It was the part of him that he wanted her hands on the most, of course. She paused and looked up at him as she finished the space between his hip bones, both of them wondering if she was going to continue. Ezra could practically feel his eyes pleading at her, but he refused to say the words. This was her decision. He'd never force her to do anything.

Sabine hesitated before thinking, 'kriff it', and pouring more soap in her hands and then grabbing his length gently in both hands. Ezra gasped and stiffened. "Too much?" she asked worriedly.

He shook his head quickly. "No," he said in a high pitched squeak. "Perfect. Promise. It's just no one's ever touched me but me."

Sabine smiled to herself. "Good. That's what I like to hear. And ditto for myself, so you know."

Ezra found his hands coming to rest on her head, fingers delving into her wet hair. "That's good," he gasped out as she rubbed him softly. He was pretty sure he was about ten seconds away from exploding now.

Sabine was surprised when his length hardened even further in her hands and seemed to grow an extra centimetre even as she watched. He'd already been longer than both her hands could cover and her fingers didn't meet around his width. He was incredible. She honestly wasn't sure if he was going to fit inside her, but was determined to try, when the time was right.

She moved one of her soapy hands down to his tight balls and washed them very carefully, knowing they were supposed to be very sensitive. Her left hand kept up a steady stroking rhythm on his cock as her right continued to explore underneath, reaching further and further back daringly.

Ezra gasped and threw his hands out to catch the wall as his legs threatened to collapse from the overwhelming sensory overload she was delivering. "Sabine, I can't hold it anymore," he warned between panting breaths.

She looked up at him with heavy lidded eyes and a small smile on her lips. "Then don't. Come on me, Ez'ika. Then you can wash it off."

That was enough to make him lose it completely. He stiffened and groaned as what seemed like a never-ending stream of seed shot out of him, hitting her on the neck, collarbone, and dripping down to her breasts. "Foooorrrrrccceee," he moaned through it, the mere sight of what he was coming on drawing it out even further.

Sabine was so turned on right now, surprised that watching Ezra climax might just be the hottest thing she'd ever seen. When he finally stopped, leaning against the wall on his hands, legs trembling, and head hanging down as he sucked in air, she boldly leaned forward and kissed the tip of him, licking up the last drops of his creamy looking seed. She let it sit on her tongue for a moment, assessing the salty flavour, and decided it wasn't too bad. She might even grow to like it after awhile.

Ezra's eyes popped open when he felt her lips on him and watched in awe as she tasted him and then swallowed. His temporarily deflating dick twitched back to life at the sight. "Karabast, Sabine. I need to taste you too," he said before he even thought about it.

Sabine rose slowly to her feet in the circle of his arms, eyes shining and lips parted as she panted slightly at the thought. "You have to bathe me first," she whispered against his lips before kissing him slowly and deeply. "It's only fair." She pulled back and smiled at his dazed look. Her hand rested on his chest as she rubbed her breasts against him while her other hand snuck down between her legs and she scooped up some of her juices onto a finger. "But," she added as she raised the finger to his lips and waited for him to open. "You've been so good, here's a little sample."

Ezra sucked her finger into his mouth eagerly, tongue swirling around it as his eyes closed and he tasted her sweet juice mixed with the unpleasant shock of leftover soap. He ignored the flavour of soap and concentrated on the sweetness. His eyes opened slowly, meeting her curious ones. "Ambrosia. That's what you taste like."

Sabine smiled in pleased satisfaction. She swiped up some of his cum off her chest that hadn't been washed off yet and placed it in her mouth, holding it on her tongue, and then reached between her legs again. Her finger once again went in his mouth. Then she quickly pressed their mouths together and snuck her tongue into his mouth, mixing the flavours, finding that very thrilling indeed.

Stars, the naughty taste of their come mixed together on top of the already sweet flavour of her mouth was enough to send him beyond anything resembling Jedi control. Ezra groaned deep in his chest as he kissed her nearly desperately and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up and pressing her against a slick shower wall. His throbbing erection found a little spot of heaven in the humid folds between her legs when she wrapped them around his hips. Sabine rubbed herself along his length instinctively, both of them grinding their hips against the other in a sensual frenzy as they kissed and kissed and kissed some more.

Force, it was fabulous. Ezra could almost imagine he was inside her for real.

Their kiss never stopped as he slid back and forth against her, the water pounding against his back. Her breasts were squashed against his chest, hard little nipples poking and rubbing against him with every one one of her sensual little wriggles. She was moaning and keening and panting into their wet and frenzied kiss, driving him absolutely wild.

In what felt like no time, and an eternity of bliss, he tensed as she clamped around him even tighter, nails digging into the skin of his shoulders. She threw her head back, crying her release, baring her vulnerable neck, and giving him a firsthand view of her pretty jawline. His own orgasm crashed through him and exploded out of him. He burrowed his mouth in the delicate spot where shoulder met neck and groaned like he was dying as he came on the wall behind her and hot liquid gushed on his length.

His muscles trembled as he held them up by pining his weight against her and he panted like he'd just run around the entire circumference of Capital City. She didn't seem to mind as her head settled onto his shoulder and her hands caressed his back and shoulders and scalp in a mindless rhythm. Sabine felt nearly boneless in Ezra's arms as she came down from her second orgasm in the space of half an hour. He gazed down at her to find her eyes closed and an extremely content expression on her beautiful face. She turned her head slightly and kissed his skin in a butterfly touch. His smiled and kissed her forehead in return.

"Gar gotal'ur ner kar'ta darasuum briikase, Riduur," she murmured.

Ezra only understood a couple of the words but he wanted to know them all. He stepped back from the wall and put her on her feet again, cupping her face in his hands. "Teach me what you just said. I want to know your language."

Sabine studied him for a moment, her beautiful amber eyes gazing at him intently, then she smiled as she brushed a gentle finger over the dark bruise under his eye that he'd completely forgotten was there. "Remind me to put some bacta on that soon before it swells even more."

Ezra grabbed her hand and kissed the fingers. "Yah, yah. But what did you say?"

Sabine grinned as she handed him the soap bottle in a clear command to get to work. Ezra blinked at it for a moment before he got the idea. She didn't say anything until his hands were full of soap and running over her arm and shoulder gently, his libido going nuts because he was touching her by her request.

"You really want to learn Mando'a?"

Ezra nodded, his eyes intent on his task. "It's your language. All of your people speak it unless talking directly to someone like me who doesn't understand. I want to know what they're saying. I have a feeling we'll be dealing with a lot of Mandalorian politics from now on with you as the Countess. I don't want to make you look bad."

Sabine stretched up and kissed him sweetly for that. "I knew you were smarter than most give your credit for, Ezra."

Ezra smirked as he spent a ridiculous amount of time washing her hand, fingers playing with hers. Her fingers were so delicate and tiny compared to his. He found them utterly fascinating. "Just your typical streetrat, cyar'ika. You gotta be smart to survive."

Sabine shook her head at him, but started the lesson anyway. "I said, 'Gar gotal'ur ner kar'ta darasuum briikase, Riduur'. It means, 'You make my heart forever happy, Husband."

Ezra paused, his heart jumping with joy as he moved his hands across her collarbone to start washing her other arm. "Oh, I like that. You make me forever happy, too, my beautiful and talented wife." He paused and grinned. "Man, that's nice to say." His fingers caressed her arm as his brow furrowed in concentration for a moment. "Gar gotal'ur... You make... Then what?"

Sabine smiled at him like he'd just solved all the mysteries of the universe. He liked that. A lot. Ezra gave her a dopey smile in return. "Ner kar'ta... My heart." She took one of his hands and pressed it to her heart between her breasts, making his cock twitch with excitement, and said it again very quietly and very seriously. "You are my heart, Ezra."

Ezra took her other hand and pressed it to his thumping heart as he gazed into her beautiful eyes so they were connected the same. "Gar ner kar'ta darasuum, Sabine." (You my heart forever, Sabine.) And she was. She always had been. His heart woke up when he met her and hadn't stopped beating for her since.

Sabine's heart felt like it literally melted into a puddle. She just had to kiss him again.

With their hands trapped between them, and his length happily pressed to her stomach, he kissed her back. This time it was a soft and loving kiss that drew on and on as neither wanted to stop. The water running over their heads wasn't going to hinder their passion.

Eventually Ezra pulled away, raising the hand he had a hold of to kiss. "Back to your bath, cyar'ika."

Sabine grinned and repeated his gesture before dropping his hand and tugging her other free. "Before the water turns ice cold would be a good idea."

"Right."

Ezra got busy fulfilling a long held fantasy; he ran his hands over her from neck to toes under the guise of making her clean. A more beautiful female had never been formed, in his humble opinion. And he told her so as he washed her as slowly and studiously as he could manage.

"Such a slender neck," he praised after he'd finished with her right hand and worked his way back up her arm. "How it holds your head is a wonder."

Sabine scoffed, of course, rolling her eyes at him. "Have you seen Hera's neck and what it holds up? Those lekku are not light."

Ezra had to give her that one. He'd been smacked by a flying lek once or twice when the group of them had been fighting in close quarters or he'd been standing by her chair in the Phantom and the flying had gotten rather adventurous. She'd even used a lek to push him towards the back of the Phantom in a wordless order to go strap himself in. "Fine. Your neck is normal and not wondrous at all, but I still adore it."

She smacked him on the shoulder.

Ezra grinned at her and poured shampoo into his hands. "Turn." She did, putting her back to him and the water and tilting her head back so he could soap up her hair, making sure to give her scalp a thorough message as well.

She moaned. "Oh, that's lovely. I'm getting you to wash my hair as often as possible from now on."

Ezra thrilled at that. "I'd love to. I love your hair. It's the prettiest hair in the galaxy. I love how colourful it is." He gave her a nudge back towards the water, indicating he was done and he wanted to rinse the soap out now.

"Thank you, Ez."

When he was sure all the soap was gone from her hair he turned her around again. His hands cupped her jaw and he kissed her softly, smiling into her eyes. "You're welcome."

His hands trailed back down her neck and moved downwards, skimming over her delicate looking collarbones, his next goal firmly in sight.

They both gasped when he trailed a soapy finger over a breast. Then he was cupping them and kneading them, marveling at the soft weight of them. They came to hard points for him in moments and he could practically feel Sabine's approval of what he was doing. Curious, he concentrated on their new bond and he pinched a nipple lightly. She gasped again and so did he as he felt an echo of her pleasure.

Holy poodoo.

Not only was that amazing to feel, he now had an in with her body. He would never have to worry if something he did to her was uncomfortable or not to her liking.

No wonder Kanan and Hera always looked like very satisfied tookas when they came out of their room together in the mornings.

Ezra spent a lot of time on her breasts even though they could have been considered clean five minutes ago. They were just so beautiful and responsive and her moans were music to his ears.

But there were other places on her body that were calling to him.

So he left her soft mounds behind and continued on down her torso, sweeping his hands over her ribcage and waist and then back up again, fingering the lines of her six pack and circling her belly button. "I absolutely love your abs. They're so hot. And this might be the sexiest belly button ever."

Sabine laughed at him, her hands on his shoulders as she watched him wash her with heated and indulgent eyes.

He didn't care.

From there, he'd skimmed over her hip bones and lower belly and then made for a thigh, saving the area with a phoenix over it for last, like she had.

Her legs were slender but firm with muscle. He kneaded her thighs and calves as he washed them, making her a little more boneless and heavier on his shoulders. Ezra smirked to himself, pleased. He spent a small eternity leaning every dip and sensitive spot on her knees, which he thought were incredibly cute and told her so, which made her giggle from above. (He was sitting on his heels now.) And when he was done with her calves, he picked up each of her feet and learned them just as thoroughly as he'd learned her hands. Her feet weren't much bigger than her hands either, being just as small and delicate looking. They were a complete contradiction in appearance to what they were actually capable of; her limbs all but registered as lethal weapons.

And then he rose to his feet and gently turned her around, propping her against a wall since she still seemed a little boneless, so he could wash her back. The lean strength in it was awe inspiring. From there, his hands trailed down to her luscious butt cheeks. The round globes were just like the rest of her; feminine but firm to the touch, full with muscle. Ezra loved it. He loved all of her. "By the Force, Sabine, you're perfect," he whispered in her cute little earlobe, letting his lips just brush it as he spoke.

She shivered in his arms.

Ezra turned her back around with his hands on her hips. Her arms immediately found his shoulders again. Her eyes were nearly liquid and half black with desire as she looked up at him. Ezra kissed her again, tongue invading her space as his mind spun with their combined emotions.

With a groan, he pulled away and reached for the soap one more time. "One place left," he whispered, eyes glinting at her.

Sabine panted, licking her lips, and moved her feet further apart in invitation. "Please." That's all she said, but for her, that was all out begging.

Ezra kept a hand on her hip and his eyes on hers as he knelt again, drawing hard on their bond as he moved his soapy hand down her belly and over the soft hair of her phoenix and then he touched her pussy for the first time.

When her eyes closed in approval, he watched what he was doing.

He rubbed her at first, but then he started exploring with his fingers, seeking out the hidden depths of her folds and the little nub of her clitoris. She liked it when he circled her clit. She liked it even more when he strummed it. Ezra kept that in mind as he moved further back and dipped a finger in her tight opening. She clamped around him immediately and his heart raced. He slid further back and fingered her anus the way she'd done to him. Her heart raced. He looked up and found her eyes on him. They had blackened even further.

Wow.

He'd remember that one.

Then he returned to her clit and stayed there, wanting to see her come apart by his hand alone.

She was already strung so tight, it only took a minute of careful attention.

And she was exquisite when she came.

Her Force signature burst into excited fireworks and her cries of pleasure made him feel like the best male in the galaxy.

When she was able to focus on him again, he all but begged, "Now can I taste you?"

The very millisecond she nodded, he beamed up at her, rose to his feet faster than light and kissed her breathless. Then he scooped her light weight up into his arms and carried her out of the refresher. He almost forgot to turn off the shower, but remember at the last second, waving a hand at it to shut it off before leaving the refresher and carrying her to the bed.

He deposited her on the soft mattress, not caring that they were both soaking wet, and then knelt beside her, drinking in the sight of her golden skin glistening with moisture. "I've been waiting for this to happen for years," he whispered, throat so tight with love and need that he could barely speak.

And then he proceeded to kiss and lick her in the same pattern he'd washed her in, worshiping every millimeter of her body.

He knew he was driving her insane with sensation because he could feel it, but he couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. He held her still with the Force when she tried to wriggle away from his mouth and hands, gazing at her with begging eyes. "Please, just let me have this."

Sabine whimpered, but nodded.

So he continued, kissing the inside of her elbow as his hands explored other bits of her skin.

The second time she moved, he didn't even bother to speak, just used his begging eyes on her again and a gentle reminder with Force power to stay still and take it.

So she did, mostly. He knew she wriggled a couple of times after that on purpose, just so he'd stop her again with the Force, because every time he did, her breathing became just a little more erratic and her heart pounded faster. Sabine liked him being dominating. She liked it a lot. He never would have guessed. It made him hard as a rock.

But this was about her.

By the time he finally made it back to her pussy and used his mouth to explore the same way his fingers had, he could feel that she was going to explode into a million pieces. So was he, but that was beside the point.

He finished her off by sucking on her clit until she screamed, a finger in her pussy, feeling it clench around him spasmically. The very thought of feeling that with his cock was mind shattering. She gushed more liquid and he moved down to drink it up, eyes closing in ecstasy at her flavour even as he came with her, the echoes in their bond too much to resist. He moved a hand down to catch most of his seed so as not to soil their bedding any worse than they already had.

He found himself licking his hand and her pussy in turn until both were clean. Their combined flavour was literally ambrosia.

Sabine watched him do this through slitted eyes, her limbs limp on the bed. "By the Manda, that's hot," she mumbled. "I could watch you lick that all day."

Ezra smirked and crawled up her body, kissing her and sharing the last of their flavour with her. "I'm sure you'll get to see it again."

"Many times?"

"Many times."

He wrapped her in his arms and turned them over so she was lying on his chest, head snuggled over his heart. (He'd worshipped her for so long, her hair was already dry and hopelessly tangled.) "Love you, Ez'ika," she mumbled in a barely audible tone just before she fell asleep on him.

Ezra kissed her hair. "Love you, too, my beautiful cyar'ika," he whispered back, smiling. Then he closed his eyes and let sleep take him as well.


	10. Just a Few Badass Girls

**Just a few Badass Girls:**

The feast / celebration was in full swing and growing by the minute. Two ships had left to get fresh food from Sundari, since no one wanted to feast on rations and protein bars. Within an hour those two ships were back and were accompanied by dozens more as word spread like wildfire that THE place to party was the new Mand'alor's camp.

Bo-Katan had never been more proud of her people as she was now. This was the biggest peaceful gathering of clans in the memory of even the oldest amongst them. All around her, warriors mingled with the more 'enlightened' citizens of what was left of the New Mandalorians her older sister had worked so hard to promote. Their spirits were high as they ate their fill and drank a ridiculous amount of liquor.

She took a sip of her own spiced mead, glancing at her dinner companion who had somehow become her shadow over the course of the last day.

Fenn Rau caught her glance and winked, raising his cup to her in a salute. "I never thought I'd see this day," he said in exuberant disbelief. "You have performed what most would call a miracle."

Bo-Katan blushed slightly at the praise, glancing down her mostly empty plate. "I can't take all the credit. If it weren't for that Wren girl and her determination to stir up chaos over the last few months, I doubt the rest of us would have been inspired to act as we have."

Fenn tilted his head in acknowledgement. "As one who has taken part in most of her 'chaos', I have to admit you have a point. But I can guarentee it was you and not her who these people are here to celebrate with. You are the leader everyone wanted. We've just been waiting for you to realize it. I'm almost positive that everyone here would call you their Mand'alor even if you didn't have the Darksabre. It is only a symbol. YOU are the reality." His glacier blue eyes met her brilliant green ones, pouring all of his sincerity and admiration into his gaze.

Bo-Katan gazed back at him for a minute, not saying a word as she came to a decision. She stood abruptly from the hastily set up table in a clear space of the camp that was now packed with dozens of tables and hundreds of people. "Come with me," she said as she grabbed her helmet off the bench beside where she'd been sitting.

"Alright," Fenn said, quickly copying her movements and following her confidently striding form towards the small village of tents. He had no idea what they were doing, but he would happily follow that shapely frame anywhere and eagerly drink in the sight of her rounded hips swaying as she walked, without any complaints.

She strode into her personal tent. It was just large enough to stand up in and fit a small cot in comfortably with space beside to dress in. (Even as the Countess of her clan, she'd never felt the need to be ostentatious.)

Fenn followed her in, raising a brow in confusion. "Did you want to show me something?"

Bo-Katan smiled a secretive little smile as she sealed the heavy fabric door shut. "In a fashion," she said as she tossed her helmet onto the cot and then closed the distance between them until her armoured chest was only millimetres from his. She took his helmet from his unresisting hands and tossed it on the cot as well and then looked up at him as her hands came to rest on the hard armour over his chest.

By now, Fenn was getting a pretty good idea where this was going but he wasn't getting his hopes up too much, just in case.

Bo-Katan's eyes roamed over the rugged lines of his handsome features before settling on his eyes once again. She smiled slightly to see the anticipation in his gaze. Excellent; she hadn't misread his interest. (That would have been awkward.) "We're both way beyond the age of silly courting games," she finally said. "So I'm just going to kiss you and see if this attraction is worth pursuing."

Fenn returned her slight smile as he placed his hands on her narrow waist and pulled her closer so that her chest armour fit snugly under his and tilted his head down towards hers. "I'd be very surprised if this doesn't work," he murmured. "You're the sexiest female I've ever seen."

Bo-Katan hmmmed in pleased agreement before she rose slightly on her toes and closed the last remaining distance between their mouths. His lips were soft and fitted perfectly with hers. They kissed gently for a moment before drawing back and looking at each other, seeking permission to continue. Then their mouths meshed together once again and tongues quickly came into play.

Fenn growled out, "Bo" in a throaty moan and wrapped his arms around her, never having felt such an instant need to dominate and worship another female before.

Bo-Katan nipped at his lower lip as she jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist as need coursed through her. "Fenn," she growled back, green eyes heavy lidded as she buried her fingers in his short red hair only a shade different in colour from her own. She smashed her lips against his again, moaning at his taste of mead and male.

Eventually they parted again, gasping in air and gazing at each other in lust and somewhat stunned shock at the combustible chemistry sizzling between them. Bo-Katan tightened her fingers in his hair and smiled a tooka smile. "We're going to have a pack of red headed kids and they're going to take over the galaxy."

Fenn threw his head back and laughed for a few moments before he leaned forward again and nuzzled his nose into the delicate spot below her ear, breathing in her female and flowery soap scent. "I can't wait to meet these hellraising children of ours."

Bo-Katan giggled as he tickled her with his nose and she started tugging at his armour. "Then we'd better get started, cause we're going to be awful busy for the next year or so while sorting out the mess Mandalore's in and it looks like you're going to be on a different planet than me more often than not."

Fenn pulled back a little again, eyes turning serious. "We'll figure it out."

Bo-Katan tossed a blue shoulder guard to the tarp floor before attacking the other one. "Yes, we will."

* * *

Kanan floated through the Force, letting it take him wherever it wanted for a few hours. As usual, he received glimpses of the past and flashes of possible futures. The tiny pieces of scenes or voices that he had yet to experience or hear were never enough to get a firm grasp on what any of them meant, but sometimes he could puzzle together enough of them to have an idea of what was coming.

Today, he was seeing enough things related to Lothal to let him know that going back there was definitely an idea approved by the Force and it helped to settle his mind over Sabine's plan.

His meditation was interrupted by the familiar sound of Chopper's wheels rolling in his direction. Kanan sighed softly and rose from his kneeling position, wincing as his knees protested the movement after being in the same spot on the hard dirt for hours. (There was definitely something to be said for meditating on his cushion.)

He walked off the stiffness in only a few steps as he moved to intercept Chopper. "What is it, Chop?" he asked as soon he was near the droid.

Chopper stopped rolling and waited for Kanan. "Hera's on the comm again. She says High Command wants to talk to Bo-Katan and Sabine."

"Thanks for telling him, Chopper," Hera's voice said dryly from Chopper's speakers.

"You're welcome," Chopper beeped back, pleased with himself as he deliberately ignored her sarcasm.

Kanan smirked, just knowing Hera was rolling her eyes right now. He continued walking back in the direction of camp about a kilometre away. "I'll find them, but I doubt you'll get Sabine anytime soon. She and Ezra just got married and are probably still in their own little world on the Gauntlet."

"WHAT?!"

Kanan chuckled at her screech. "Yep. Not kidding. Some guy challenged Ezra for the right to court Sabine. Ezra trounced him after playing with him for twenty minutes so the poor Mando didn't feel too bad about himself, and then our opportunistic boy promptly said the Mandalorian wedding vows to Sabine so no one else could try and claim her."

"Well, poodoo," Hera said, startled into swearing. "I owe Zeb twenty credits."

"How'd that happen?" Kanan said, surprised. Hera almost never lost a bet, her intuition being incredibly accurate for a non Force sensitive.

"I bet they'd get married within a month when I told Zeb they were together this morning. After looking like he was about to drop dead from shock, Zeb promptly laughed like mad and said they'd be married by the end of the week. I think he was joking, but I took the bet, thinking I'd win for sure. Kriff," she muttered to herself at the end, but Kanan heard anyway.

He chuckled at her uncharacteristic slide into Vulgar Land. "Sorry to ruin your morning, darling. The good news is that I should be back in your company within the next two days, assuming we leave this planet sometime in the near future. We were supposed to leave for Krownest hours ago, but things... happened. I have a feeling the kids aren't going to be inclined towards thinking about real life again until tomorrow."

Hera smirked to herself on a jungle moon far far away. "Especially not if Ezra's anything like you, dear."

Kanan felt his face heat as Chopper beeped out a disgusted sound. "I haven't heard you complaining about my keeping you 'occupied' for hours at a time," he said in self defence.

Now Hera was smiling like a satisfied tooka. "Oh, I wasn't complaining. That was meant to be a compliment."

Kanan's lips curled up in a smile full of well deserved pride. "Thank you, darling."

Chopper made a gagging sound, ruining the moment. "If I have to listen to this all over again, I'm quitting and you two can find a new droid. You only get one sex call per day and that's final."

"It's okay, Chopper. We're done," Kanan reassured as he neared the camp, his long legs having covered the distance quickly. "You can have a fit at me another time."

"I'm holding you to that," Chopper beeped firmly, prompting a laugh from Hera and a scowl from Kanan.

"Getting back to bringing you home..." Hera said excitedly. "I've got a ride coming for you. I remembered Ketsu was passing near the Mandalore system on Rebellion business while I was trying to fall back asleep earlier. I commed her and she agreed to pick you up from Mandalore. She should be landing in the next hour or so."

"That is great news. But how did you know I wouldn't already be in transit to Krownest?"

Hera smirked to herself. "I just did. I know my family and I had a feeling something would happen to delay your departure. I wasn't expecting it to be the kids getting married, but... yah. Even if you had left, Ketsu said she didn't mind chasing you down on Krownest. She wanted to spend some time with Sabine anyway. They haven't seen each other for months."

"That's true," Kanan said as he nodded a hello to the warrior sort of guarding the entrance to the camp. "On a similar note, I feel like it's been months since I've seen you. Force, I miss you."

"What did I just say about your sappy blathering?!" Chopper beeped angrily.

"Hera, your droid needs his attitude adjusted again," Kanan said in exasperation. "I swear he gets worse every year."

"I get better, you meathead."

"Chopper! Enough! Kanan's right." Hera scolded.

Kanan smirked at the droid rolling beside him. Chopper zapped his leg. Kanan kicked him, sending Chopper flying sideways a few meters, making a few passersby laugh. Chopper reoriented himself and charged towards Kanan on one wheel, electric probe extended.

"What was that?" Hera asked suspiciously, only hearing the noises.

Chopper resumed rolling in a normal fashion.

"Nothing," Kanan and Chopper said together, neither wanting to get in further trouble.

"That's what I thought," Hera said knowingly.

Kanan snarled at the droid silently but continued on into the camp, dodging the ridiculous number of Force signatures now present. He focused on the Gauntlet as he walked past it and smiled to himself to see Ezra's and Sabine's signatures wrapped around each other once again but also quite dormant as they slept. His chest filled with joy for them, so proud of his 'children' for having the guts to move their relationship into new territory even if they did go a little nuts about it. "As I expected, the kids aren't coming out of the Gauntlet anytime soon. They're sound asleep right now, cuddled together like puppies," Kanan told Hera.

"Awwww. Now that's just adorable," Hera said. "Although how I'm supposed to explain that to High Command is going to be something else entirely."

Kanan chuckled again at her disgusted tone as he started half-heartedly searching for Bo-Katan's unique signature. "What? The Rebellion doesn't stop for weddings?"

"You know perfectly well it doesn't, Kanan. We were fighting for our lives on Garel only the day after ours."

Kanan shook his head at the remembered mess their honeymoon had turned into as they'd gotten separated while he and Ezra led the Inquisitors away from Phoenix Squadron once again. "And I'm still sorry for that, Hera. At least we haven't seen any more Inquisitor's since Malachor. That whole fiasco did have one good final result."

Hera sighed mournfully. "I'd rather not think about it. Just find Bo-Katan so I can get on with my day, all right?"

"All right, Hera," he said in a resigned tone, not really wanting to end their conversation but knowing it couldn't last forever. "Just give me a minute. There's hundreds of people here now, all having a very good time, from the sounds of it."

Kanan walked the edges of the eating area, searching for Bo-Katan or even Fenn Rau, since he had a feeling the other man would be near her. He soon came to the conclusion that they weren't in the crowd. That left one of the ships or one the tents. Frowning to himself, he walked closer to the tents and focused on them. It only took a few moments to find the signatures he was looking for. Kanan started laughing.

"What now?" Hera said in a somewhat exasperated tone.

With some effort, Kanan controlled his mirth enough to talk. "You're going to have to tell High Command that Sabine AND Bo-Katan will call them back later or tomorrow or something. The new Mand'alor is currently merging her signature with Fenn's and I don't feel like the situation is anywhere near important enough to interrupt them."

Hera's eyebrows rose to near the top of her forehead and she blinked as she interpreted Kanan's words. "You mean..."

"Yes. That's what I mean," Kanan said, still chuckling as he turned back around and aimed for the buffet tables. The fresh food smelled really good and his now rumbling stomach was reminding him that he hadn't eaten since dinner yesterday and it was now somewhere between lunch and dinnertime today.

"All righty then," Hera said in quiet disbelief. "I guess I'll go break the news to Mothma and the others. But I don't know if they're going to believe me."

"I'm sure you'll be properly convincing, darling," Kanan said confidently as he located a stack of disposable plates by watching what others were doing. Then it was just a matter of carefully following the desires of his nose and moving his hands cautiously around the food platters.

"Thanks, love," Hera said, heavy on the sarcasm. "Call me again in about ten hours if you haven't made it here by then and we'll talk some more. I'll be off duty then."

"All right, Hera," Kanan said softly. "Love you."

"Love you too," she replied.

"Finally," Chopper beeped. "You two are the worst to listen to."

Kanan frowned at the droid. "Why don't you go find someplace to charge for awhile and leave us 'organics' to enjoy the rest of the day in peace?"

"Gladly," Chopper beeped before rolling off.

Kanan muttered something under his breath along the lines of 'stupid, kriffing droid' as he finished filling his plate and located a pile of utensils and a bottle of water. He then turned and wound his way through the crowd in the direction of where he'd sensed Sabine's father to be sitting with three other slightly familiar signatures that belonged to his fellow clan members. He figured he might as well get to know Sabine's other father better, since they'd probably be spending a lot of time together in the future.

They were going to be sharing the grandchildren after all.

* * *

Ketsu Onyo landed her ship, the Shadow Caster, a Lancer class pursuit craft, as close as she could get to the big camp that was out in the desert not too terribly far from Sundari but not in seeing distance either. The camp was surrounded by a wall of ships, almost all of which were manufactured by MandalMotors just like hers.

She disembarked her ship and wound her way through the haphazard parking lot until she came to the entrance of the walled camp. Even from here, she could easily hear the hundreds of voices talking, singing, and shouting as people fought to be heard above the others. The guard at the gate leaned against the wall, looking as disgusted to be there as a person could while wearing a helmet. She bet the man wished he was partying with the others. Hopefully they rotated him off duty soon, because he looked like he couldn't care less anymore who walked into the camp as he waved her past without even asking her name. Now that was just sloppy. He should be recording every person who entered, just in case something happened.

Oh well. Not her problem.

Staying near the wall, not particularly wanting to interact with these people who would scorn and curse her if they knew who she was, she made for the distinctive red and black coloured Kom'rk, hoping Sabine was in there.

Upon arriving at the ship, Ketsu frowned at the closed ramp and crossed her arms in dismay. She stared at the ship for another few seconds, hoping that Sabine would magically emerge from it, but no such luck. Kriff. Now she was going to have to go searching through the crowd to find Sabine.

As she turned to head towards the center of the camp, Ketsu cursed herself for not wearing her helmet. Someone was bound to recognize her if they looked long enough. There weren't that many dark skinned and purple eyed Mandalorians running around out there. And all of those that were, were all descended from the Count of Clan Onyo who had the same colouring. The Count who just happened to be her father.

Ketsu still cringed when she thought of the day he'd disowned her for going AWOL from the Imperial Academy with Sabine. He'd beat her bloody and to the point where she could barely walk, and told her if he ever saw her again, he'd kill her. Ketsu believed him.

She really really hoped he wasn't here.

Just as she passed a tent and the eating area came into view, Ketsu's hopes were dashed to smithereens. Not only was her father here, he was sitting at one of the outer edge tables and was facing her way.

With only half a second to think, Ketsu improvised on the spot. Turning and running was out of the question because that would draw his eyes to the movement. That left her with doing something that most people will look away from out of courtesy.

Ketsu grabbed the arm of a passing male warrior and turned him so he was between her and Kean Onyo. She barely took the time to notice her scapegoat had startled looking but striking grey eyes and pleasing features before she grabbed the back of his head and pulled it down to hers as she plastered her mouth to his.

While she was kissing the poor guy breathless, she was also pulling him with her as she backed up until the tent was once again blocking her from the view of her father's table. Feeling safe again, Ketsu moved to pull away from her unwitting accomplice, but he had other ideas.

The man wrapped his arms around her and tugged her closer, taking over the kiss and stealing her breath in return. Ketsu's eyes fluttered closed as she hummed in pleased surprise, thinking this was turning out quite well, all things considered. She wrapped her arms around the man's neck and pressed even closer to his hard frame, drawing out the suddenly mutual kiss even longer.

Eventually, they both pulled back a fraction and sucked in much needed air while looking at the other in wonder. "Hi," she breathed out softly, not letting go of him just yet. "My name's..."

"Ketsu Onyo," he finished for her.

Ketsu blinked in surprise, backing up and hugging her arms protectively, feeling wary now and ready to run if she had to. "You know me?"

He nodded, smiling enough to show nice white teeth. "I do. I was a couple of years ahead of you at the Academy, so we never met, but everyone heard about the girl who took off with Sabine Wren after the two of you blew up a rather large portion of the science and engineering labs. You're almost as famous as she is."

"You might be interested to know that she's an artist as well," Sabine's voice said dryly from behind them, making them both spin and look at her smirking figure in surprise. "That is, if you're still looking for someone to paint your armour, Captain Hark."

* * *

Sabine woke up most pleasantly if somewhat awkwardly stretched across Ezra's back, who in turn was splayed across the entire bed. As she took stock of her current situation, she realized that for the first time in years, she hadn't woken up sweating and crying from the nightmares that usually plagued her. It only made her love Ezra more.

Her cheek rested on the pad of his shoulder muscle and her decidedly bare breasts were pressed against his equally bare skin. Her arms more or less followed the length of his thicker ones, but didn't stretch anywhere near as far. One hip and leg touched the bed. The other leg was thrown over one of Ezra's legs and nearly twined with it.

Sabine rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, inhaling his heady scent of soap, fresh air, and grass. She smiled slowly as she decided she liked using Ezra as a pillow. It seemed fitting somehow, given that he was hoarding all the of actual bed space. She had no idea how they'd ended up this way, though, because she distinctly remembered falling asleep wrapped in his arms with her head pillowed on his chest.

That memory triggered memories of everything that had come before the sleeping, bringing a flush of heat to her cheeks and a twinge of arousal to her core.

After she had personally cleaned every millimetre of her new husband's skin and they had an even more intense dry humping session than the first, he had taken his sweet time bathing her in return. His large hands running over her body and massaging her muscles had been decidedly more erotic than she'd ever dreamed it being. He appeared to worship all of her parts equally, being just as fascinated with her toes as he had been with her breasts, just as an example.

Ezra had praised her from top to bottom with words such as, 'prettiest hair in the galaxy', 'such a slender neck', 'love your abs', and 'these are the cutest knees ever'. Sabine had never felt so special and beautiful in her entire life.

Just like her, he'd left the most private area for last.

Looking up at her from where he knelt by her feet, he'd silently asked for approval with his eyes before daring to wash her pussy very gently, carefully, and quite thoroughly. And also just like her, he'd dared to travel further back and wash and caress between her butt cheeks. Not even a minute into his ministrations, Sabine had her hands on his shoulders to hold herself up as her eyes near rolled back in her head from the pleasure of having his fingers caress and explore her folds.

And when he figured out that she especially loved having her clit played with... Well, let's just say she'd had her third orgasm of the day. Sabine knew for a fact she left impressions of her nails in his shoulders from that one.

Not that he minded or even seemed to notice. Instead, he'd watched her come apart intently, patiently, and damn near worshipfully, if what she'd seen on his face was any indication when she'd managed to open her eyes again and look down at him gratefully.

And then he'd said, "Now can I taste you?"

The very millisecond she'd nodded, he'd beamed up at her, rose to his feet faster than light and kissed her breathless. Then she found herself scooped up in his arms and carried out of the refresher. He hadn't even taken the time to turn off the shower manually, which had turned pretty cold by then. (But neither had noticed or cared.) Instead, he'd waved a hand at it to shut it off while he was already moving away from it.

Sabine hadn't realized he had a much broader idea of what needed tasting than she anticipated until he'd laid her reverently on the center of the bed and knelt beside her as he gazed at her with adoring eyes. "I've been waiting for this to happen for years," he'd whispered. And then he proceeded to kiss and lick her from her forehead to her toes. And if she tried to move to alleviate the nearly overwhelming sensations, he stopped her with the Force, electric blue eyes pinning her to the bed even more then his powers. "Please, just let me have this," he'd begged the first time. The second time she moved, he didn't even bother to speak, just used those eyes on her again.

So she did, perhaps moving once or twice on purpose just to see if he'd hold her still with the Force again, which he always did. He'd loved her front side and then worked back up again with her now on her stomach, before turning her over once again and finally delving into her weeping pussy and bringing her to ecstasy yet again. By this point, Sabine had felt like one large, screaming nerve ending from top to bottom, astonished at how turned on she was to be completely at his mercy.

Except for emergency situations on missions where he'd caught her or pushed her out of the way of something bad, this was the first time he'd ever used the Force on her deliberately. This was also the first time she'd seen a more domineering side to his personality. Sabine decided that she liked it very very much, and would be quite all right with them taking turns as the dominant partner in bed.

That last orgasm was easily the strongest one she'd ever had and she ended up completely boneless and feeling like a puddle of goo when it was over. This was when she mumbled many words of love, vowed to herself to do the same to him when she had the energy for it, and ended up wrapped in his strong arms as she fell asleep on his chest.

Now, after looking at the chronometer, it was three hours later and she was starving and desperately needed to use the refresher. But she also didn't want to move from her surprisingly comfortable position.

Her bodily needs soon convinced her otherwise. So she kissed Ezra's shoulder and rolled away from him, out from under the sheet, and off the edge of the bed in one hurried move.

Ezra stirred, head turning in her direction, but not opening his eyes. His hand moved half heartedly around the bed looking for her, and he mumbled, "S'ine?" Her heart melted even further, if that was even possible. Kriff, he was cute in every way you could think of.

Telling her bladder to shut up for twenty more seconds, she petted the back of his head and kissed his cheek, then said softly, "Shhhh. I'll be back shortly. Go back to sleep."

Ezra smiled slightly, made a rough sound of acknowledgment, and went limp again, falling back into dreamland.

Sabine smiled at him like he'd done something particularly clever and she was a proud mother for a moment before turning once again for the refresher.

Five minutes later, she emerged wearing her bodysuit leggings and top, but nothing else, not intending to be out long enough to bother putting on things like armour plating and underwear. As she left the room, she looked at Ezra again, noting he hadn't moved at all. The copper coloured skin of his shoulders and arms made a wonderful contrast against the navy blue sheets on the bed, and his hair a few shades darker against the matching pillowcase. Sabine paused and smiled to herself, making a note to paint him like that, but maybe without the sheet covering him quite so high; it would be a shame to hide the V line of his back from shoulders to waist.

Happy with her newest inspiration, Sabine continued out of the cabin and down the hallway, on a mission to find some food that hopefully didn't come in packaging meant to last years.

She found her helmet and Ezra's things in a neat pile on the decking beneath the button to open the ramp and the ramp itself quite closed. Sabine laughed softly, knowing Kanan had somehow managed to do what most would consider the impossible again. Even now, more than a year later, she was amazed by how well he'd learned to function without his sight.

She'd never wish the tragedy on Kanan, but Sabine couldn't help but notice he had emerged from the trial of Malachor a better person, a better fighter, a better teacher, a better husband to Hera, and overall just more centered and calm within his own skin. There was no Council left to bestow upon him the rank of Jedi Master, but according to Ezra, Kanan had assuredly reached that point in his Jedi skills even if he never claimed the title and was content to see himself as just a Knight for the rest of his life.

Sabine smiled at the irony of how she was now married to a Jedi Padawan and silently called a Jedi Master her second father, considering how she was raised to believe the Jedi were evil and the ENEMY. And somehow, her Jedi were slowly but surely earning the respect of an ever growing number of Mandalorians. Somewhere, there must be a ton of Mando ancestors rolling over in their graves at the horror of it all. Laughing softly at the image now playing through her mind, Sabine tugged Ezra's neatly folded orange jacket from the bottom of the pile and shrugged into it, covering her form fitting black and grey bodysuit that left her feeling a little bit exposed without the armour attached to it.

As she did up the zipper, Sabine was surprised at how big the jacket was on her, making her realize once again that Ezra was definitely growing up. They could have traded clothes when he first appeared in her Ghost family's lives, they were so similar in size. Now... Now the sleeves went past her hands, the shoulders hung down her arms, and the bottom hem hung around her thighs and covered her butt. It certainly didn't cover Ezra's fine ass, she thought with a smirk as she hit the button to open the ramp. Earlier today, she'd been admiring how his rear end looked in his brown trousers and how it was almost framed in by his belt and the straps that held his holsters to his legs, and he'd most definitely been wearing his jacket at the time.

Sabine walked towards the noisy center of the camp, certain she'd find the feast that someone had been calling for hours ago. Knowing Mandos and their propensity for long and raucous parties, she wasn't worried that the food would all be gone; it was guaranteed that more food and drinks would be brought with every new addition to the party. And judging by the sound of the crowd, there'd been A LOT of additions.

Sabine came to an abrupt halt when she saw a familiar set of armour topped by a distinctive haircut and red tattooed head pull a now almost equally familiar Captain Hark into a very passionate looking kiss. Sabine blinked at the shocking sight for few seconds until she looked past where Ketsu had just been standing and spotted the Onyo clan members at an outside edge table. Understanding dawned instantly, but Sabine couldn't help but have a little fun with her close friend and the guy who'd wanted to court her not even five hours ago.

Sabine walked a bit closer and waited for the pair to come up for air, finding herself more and more amused the longer it took. Ketsu's behaviour didn't surprise her much, as the other girl had always had a very strong love 'em and leave 'em attitude that had no problem with picking up a guy for a one nighter and then never seeing him again. (Sabine was sure Ketsu's abusive father had a lot to do with that, making Ketsu unwilling to commit to a male but still craving their company.)

Sabine was kind of surprised by Hark, though. For a guy who had shown such interest in Sabine not so long ago, he was definitely on board with Ketsu's kisses now. Then again, he was a guy and a hot girl had just kissed him. She couldn't really blame him for getting into it.

There had been one occasion, years ago when she and Ketsu were bounty hunting together, that she'd even experienced one of Ketsu's kisses even though neither of them swung that way. It had been a cover to get close to a bounty, and it had worked perfectly. (Apparently men turned into brainless idiots when they saw two females kissing.) Sabine had to admit that Ketsu was quite skilled in the kissing department and striking to look at, sooooo, yep; she couldn't blame Hark at all.

Eventually they stopped to breathe and struck up a conversation. And ohhh, there was a surprise; Hark knew who Ketsu was and he was in the Academy the same time they were, if a couple years older. AND he thought they were famous. Was that a good thing? Sabine had no idea. "You might be interested to know that she's an artist as well," Sabine butted into the conversation dryly. She smirked at them as they spun around and gawked at her. "That is, if you're still looking for someone to paint your armour, Captain Hark."

"Sabine!" Ketsu beamed at her, dodging around Hark and bounding over to hug her enthusiastically. "I'm so sorry about your mom and brother," she said solemnly after pulling back.

"Thank you," Sabine replied sadly.

"Buuuuuut," Ketsu continued, completely ignoring the guy she'd just been kissing as he awkwardly shifted his feet a few steps behind Ketsu, not sure what to do with himself now. (Sabine was secretly amused.) "Hera says congratulations are in order," Ketsu continued on a more positive tone. "You've destroyed the Duchess again and hooked up with Jedi Junior?"

Sabine nodded, smiling widely.

"Good for you. I always knew you'd cave in to the boy's obvious adoration eventually. Annnnnd, you're already wearing his clothes. Impressive."

Sabine shrugged, grinning. "He's my husband; I can steal his stuff now with impunity."

Ketsu laughed. "Someone's a fast worker. Last I heard, you'd just reached the courting stage and that was only a few hours ago."

"Ezra was inspired, thanks to your new liplocking partner back there."

Ketsu looked back over her shoulder at him, looking somewhat surprised to see that he was still standing there. "Him? What's he got to do with anything? Other than being in the right place at the right time and being a really good kisser, that is?"

Hark lit up at the compliment and moved forward a few more steps so he joined the conversation group.

Sabine snorted and rolled her eyes. "What hasn't he been involved in lately? But, in this instance, I mean that Captain Hark, here, decided that he could challenge Ezra for the right to court me. Ezra won."

Hark winced and Ketsu looked at him with disappointment. "Is that true? Did you want Sabine?"

Hark flushed red and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Well, yes."

Ketsu huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, pointedly looking away from the man, dismissing him. She had no interest in Sabine's cast offs.

"But," Hark hurried on, obviously trying to salvage something. "I realize now that it wasn't Sabine specifically that I was looking for, but her type."

Ketsu glared at him, raising a black brow scornfully. "What? Tiny and pale? No offence, Sabs," she added.

"None taken." Sabine couldn't wait to see where Hark was going with this. And she knew Ketsu was deliberately baiting the man.

"No!" Hark exclaimed, looking appalled. "I meant badass warrior type female who's not afraid to stand up for herself."

Sabine couldn't help but be a little flattered at the description.

Ketsu hmmmmmed noncommittally, but Sabine could tell Ketsu was secretly pleased by the man's comeback as well.

Hark continued on bravely, his entire focus on Ketsu. And what do you know; his eyes didn't look like flat grey Imperial hallways anymore. There actually was some depth to him. "I know you're one of those too, Ketsu Onyo. And for the record, I think you're both beautiful, but you suit me better. Sabine IS a little short, now that you mention it."

"Hey!" Sabine said in mock offence just for the principle of the thing. He did have a point though. She'd have to climb him like a tree to kiss him or he'd have a terrible crick in his neck in no time. Which made Sabine contemplate telling Ezra that he could stop growing anytime now (as if he had control of it) because at the moment, their heights fit together perfectly. Then again, she wouldn't mind climbing Ezra like a tree on a regular basis. That thought led to another and suddenly, Sabine just wanted to wrap this up and get back to her new husband for some more fun alone time. (But not without finding them some food first, her rumbling stomach reminded her.)

Ketsu looked at the man assessingly once again, turning towards him fully. "Perhaps you're not a complete dud, then. I don't have time to stay and play, but if you go wait by my ship, the Lancer class painted in Rebel Alliance yellow and red, I'll give you my holo frequency before I leave. Feel free to call me, and we'll talk some more about getting better acquainted, Captain Hark."

"Jett," he said, looking quite happy with how things were turning out. "My name's Jett."

Ketsu's mouth curved up in a seductive smile. "Jett it is, then." She grabbed his tunic and pulled him close, planting a quick kiss on his mouth before letting him go. "You better not disappoint me."

He looked kind of dazed. "Oh, I won't."

"Good. Now go do whatever you were doing. Sabine and I need some girl time."

"Okay," he said obediently, wandering off and muttering to himself, "I guess I'll just have to paint my own armour. It's gonna suck, though."

Sabine shook her head at his retreating back. "You really know how to pick 'em, Kets. That one is either the galaxy's biggest idiot or incredibly smart. I haven't decided yet."

Ketsu shrugged, watching him walk away as well with her head tilted slightly to the side and smirk on her lips. "Who cares? He kisses like a dream, is built like a rock, has a large package in perfect working order, and has a mighty fine ass. That's all I need to know."

Sabine barked out a laugh and linked her arm with Ketsu's. "Come on and I'll tell you everything I know about Captain Fine Ass." She led Ketsu back to the ramp of the Gauntlet and they sat down and had a little chat.

Seven minutes later, Ketsu shrugged. "You're right. He's either an idiot or very smart. Still don't care. It's not like I'm going to marry the man."

Sabine shook her head at Ketsu fondly. "I wish you good fun, then." She nudged her friend with her shoulder. "Sooo, what are you doing here, anyway?"

"Oh, that. I'm here to pick up Jedi Senior and the Droid From Hell. Hera sent me. I think she wants her man back."

"Are you sure it's not Chopper she wants back?" Sabine said, completely deadpan. "He's so much more useful than a 'meatbag' after all."

Ketsu and Sabine looked at each other for a couple of seconds before breaking out in snorts of laughter that grew for a minute until they managed to pull themselves together and wipe the tears from their eyes.

Now composed again, Ketsu sighed and looked a little woebegone. "I don't suppose you could go get Kanan and Chopper for me while I go wait for Captain Fine Ass to meet me at my ship?"

Sabine shook her head slowly, despite knowing that would be the fastest way to get back to Ezra. But there was something that needed taking care of first that had been a long time coming. "Sorry, Kets. But I think it's high time we fixed your status. The fact that you'd rather kiss a stranger than face your father is testament enough to that." Sabine smiled as Ketsu sagged before nodding reluctantly. "And you know what else? I now have the power to help you."

Ketsu looked at Sabine blankly for a few seconds before she got it. "Shabla nerfherders! You do!"

Sabine grinned and bumped her shoulder against Ketsu's. "Come on, then. It's time to be badass warrior girls who aren't afraid to go after what we want."

Ketsu giggled, rising to her feet beside Sabine. "Wouldn't want to disappoint my new man candy. I have an image to uphold, after all."

"Right. We wouldn't want to disappoint Captain Fine Ass, because that would certainly be a disaster." Sabine's eyes twinkled with hidden mirth as she deadpanned utter seriousness.

Ketsu snorted and then both women giggled with laughter as they walked shoulder to shoulder back towards trouble.

Sabine grinned at the girl who'd been her friend since their first days at the Academy together despite the fact that Sabine was a year younger and started the program early. For a brief moment, it felt like old times again; just them against the rest the galaxy with only their guts, blasters, and each other to rely on.

(Too bad Sabine left her WESTARs in the refresher. She really hoped she didn't need them.)

Sabine strode into the obstacle course of tables, benches, and people like she owned the place; with her shoulders back, a smirk on her lips, and her steps confident. Anyone in her way automatically moved without even realizing it, unconsciously reacting to her aura of authority.

Ketsu followed in her wake, adopting the same attitude, but really feeling like she wished the ground would swallow her whole. She was a little in awe of her younger friend. Sometime in the last year, Sabine had truly grown up and was confident in herself in a way she had never been before. She had always had the instincts of a natural leader but had been content to let others lead while she coasted through life in her own little world of paint and explosions. Sabine had definitely changed and it left Ketsu feeling like it might be time for her own transformation into a responsible adult.

But then again, responsible adults probably don't pick up man candy whenever some happens along and she had no desire to give up the new sexy man she'd just found. Maybe she'll be a responsible adult next week.

Oooooo. And there he was, talking to a group of warriors in red and black armour. Ketsu guessed they were his men since those were Saxon colours. She waved when he glanced up and spotted her, a grin breaking over his handsome face. Ketsu pretended that her heart didn't leap with excitement when he smiled. There was no way she was actually going to fall for him; she was going to leave the truly sappy stuff to Sabine.

"Hey, Wren!" someone called from the crowd. "You get tired of your Jedi already?" Those who heard chuckled in amusement. (Which was almost everyone.) "There's plenty here who would happily take his place if you want a real man to warm your bed."

Sabine paused and found the man wearing Clan Kryze armour. She didn't know his name, but she'd seen him around enough to know he was one of Bo-Katan's seconds. She grinned at the man. "My bed is hot enough, Kryze, but thanks for offering. My Jedi is undoubtedly twice the man you are anyway, so I wouldn't get too enthusiastic with those offers if I were you."

"OOOOOOOO," gasped the crowd, grinning and laughing.

The Kryze warrior sat back down and suffered the good natured ribbing his companions gave him.

Sabine exchanged grins with Ketsu and they walked on, aiming for the table containing her father, Kanan, Shubin, and the other two Wrens, along with more members of Clan Kryze.

"Where IS your Jedi?" someone else called, this one not wearing any identifying armour.

"I left him in bed, sleeping," Sabine called back. "He's more than earned it, if you get my meaning."

The crowd burst into laughter again.

"Sounds like your Jedi is good at more than just fighting," someone else added.

Sabine laughed, not surprised at all by the attention she was getting. The good news was that this was keeping people's attention on her and not Ketsu, so she really didn't mind. "My Jedi is better than good at anything he does, and that's all I'm going to say on that."

The crowd laughed once again, but took her word for it and lost their interest in her as they returned to their little islands of conversation.

Everyone, that is, but the members of Clan Onyo, who had spotted Ketsu and were all waiting with baited breath to see how their leader would react. They weren't disappointed when Kean Onyo snarled and surged to his feet.

Kendo Onyo put a hand on his father's arm, stopping him for half a moment. "Remember where we are,"

Kean narrowed his eyes at his eldest child, but nodded curtly. He would attempt to keep his temper in check for the honour of the Clan.

With that, Kean wound his way through the crowd, not drawing attention to himself too much, but clearly a man on a mission.

Meanwhile, Sabine and Ketsu had already made it to her family's table.

"I'm honestly surprised to see you out here, Sabine," Alrich said with a twinkle in his eyes. "None of us were expecting you to emerge from the ship until tomorrow morning at the earliest."

Sabine shrugged and blushed. Being teased about her love life by strangers was one thing, but by her father... Well, that was an entirely different matter. "I was hungry and wanted real food?"

Her family and the others at the table chuckled. Kanan smiled at her. "Now that, I can understand. Yesterday's dinner was a very long time ago."

"It was," Sabine said, as her stomach rumbled loud enough to be heard. "I'm hitting the buffet in a minute. But first, as you can see, I found a lost soul wandering the edges of the camp. You remember Ketsu, Father?"

Alrich nodded, smiling at the tall young woman. "I do. It's been a long time, but I could never forget my daughter's best friend from the Academy. How are you?"

"I'm good, for the most part," Ketsu said returning the smile. She'd always liked Sabine's dad; he was so much nicer than her own and he'd been the one to get her properly started as an artist. She and Sabine used to sneak out of the Academy at night and go hang out with her dad at the Wren mansion whenever he was in town. And that was often, with his art gallery also in the city. She pointed at the phoenix symbol on her shoulder guard. "As you can see, Sabine's dragged me into her cause."

"And we're lucky to have you," Kanan said. "You're a great addition to the rebel forces. Nothing like a Mandalorian to inspire fear in a stormtrooper."

The group laughed at Kanan's dry comment.

Ketsu snorted. "At the moment, I seem to be doing more cargo runs than fighting, but whatever. And as my latest batch of cargo, grab your stuff and Hera's droid, Jedi Senior, cause we're out of here as soon as possible. This isn't exactly a sanctioned side trip but a favour for your wife. I would hate for us all to get in trouble with High Command," Ketsu said, rolling her eyes as she layered on the sarcasm.

Kanan chuckled as he rose to his feet, picking up his empty plate and water bottle in one hand. "I'll track down Chopper. I have no doubt he's either sulking somewhere or starting a droid revolt."

"My vote's on the revolt," Sabine said, exchanging smiles with Kanan. She stopped him with a hand on his arm before he left. "Do you want me to wake up Ezra so you can say goodbye before you go?"

Kanan shook his head. "Don't worry about it. We can talk over the comm later. It's only going to be a few days until we meet up again on Garel anyway, right?"

"That's the plan."

"Good," Kanan squeezed her shoulder affectionately before turning to leave, smirking slightly to himself as he noticed she wasn't wearing her shoulder armour, and if he wasn't mistaken the material under his hand felt like Ezra's jacket. It smelt like it too, he thought, as he inhaled just to double check. Kanan froze in midstep as he turned his focus on where he intended to walk and immediately spotted a very angry and very large Force signature heading towards them. He put his trash back down on the table as he tensed slightly before consciously relaxing his muscles again. "We've got trouble marching this way," he said quietly.

The signatures of everyone around him changed to battle readiness in an instant and the Wrens rose to their feet, hands going to their blasters. Kanan stepped protectively in front of Sabine, assuming her lack of armour also meant she was unarmed. He also assumed that whatever this was about had something to do with Sabine.

He was wrong.

Sabine, in turn, placed herself between Ketsu and the Mando bearing down on their table with a fierce scowl and clenched fists. She'd never liked Ketsu's father, for a very good reason.

"I knew this would happen," Ketsu said in a sad undertone so only Sabine could hear.

Kanan heard anyway, his hearing on high alert and Force enhanced. "Knew what?" he started to ask, but the approaching signature cut him off.

"Ketsu! I told you if I ever saw you again, you would regret it! How dare you show your dar'manda self on Mandalore of all places! Have you no respect for your clan left at all?" Kean stomped the last few steps and came to a stop in front of Kanan, snarling at the man barring his way. "Don't interfere in Mando business, Jedi."

The watching crowd of hundreds froze as a whole as people sensed family drama occuring. Not a sound was heard for a breathless second as everyone waited to see what would happen next.

Kanan put a hand on the tank-like man's chest plate and pushed him back a step with a hint of Force. "I'll interfere if I feel it's necessary. Keep your tone civil to my friend or you will not like the consequences."

"She doesn't deserve civility. She dishonoured my clan."

"Don't care," Kanan said calmly, figuring things out on the fly. He hadn't heard that Ketsu had been declared dar'manda like Sabine, but it made sense as they had both fled the Academy together. "Ketsu Onyo has earned my respect and the respect of hundreds of other Rebels. Your hurt feelings for something she did for the good of her people just proves you to be the less honourable one."

Kean snarled more, refusing to back down. "You know nothing, Jedi scum. I can treat my daughter however I wish."

Ketsu had started to shrink within herself but she remembered she was a badass girl and her father had no power over her anymore; he'd disowned her after all. She squared her shoulders and stuck her chin out, stepped around Sabine and placed herself beside Kanan and glared up at the man who had sired her. "I am not your daughter! You said so yourself when you beat the crap out of me when I tried to come home all those years ago. If I'm disowned from you, then you're disowned from me. I spit on your rule and I refuse to call myself an Onyo anymore. There is NO honour left in that name!"

The crowd gasped at the worst insult you could give a clan leader.

Kean's arm swung back to strike at Ketsu, intending to punch her in the jaw for her insolence.

Kanan froze his arm in place with the Force.

Kean's vivid purple eyes narrowed in rage at the Jedi, muscles straining against the invisible hold.

"No!" Ketsu said to Kanan. "I'm not a little girl anymore. If Count Onyo wants to throw a punch at me, let him. I can take care of myself."

"As you wish," Kanan said, dropping his hand back down to his side.

Suddenly released from the hold, Kean's muscles betrayed him by throwing a sloppy punch that spun him on his feet. He growled and reoriented himself. He went to grab the Jedi's shirt so he could hold him still and pummel him but the Jedi was magically no longer standing in that spot. Kean spun around and found the Jedi standing behind him with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his lips below that jaig eye mask that he couldn't possibly see through. "How did you...?" he growled.

"I don't let hate and rage cloud my vision," Kanan cut him off with a no nonsense tone. "You could take some lessons from the Jedi, Count Onyo. Your temper is your downfall. What has it gained you but the loss of a talented and worthy daughter? Annnnd, the loss of the respect of your peers if what I'm feeling from the crowd is anything to go by. I bet none of these people knew that you beat your daughter when she was only fifteen years old and then turned her away from your home."

"That's not the only time he beat me by a long shot," Ketsu said bravely. "He beat my mother too. I remember that from when I was little. You told me she died in a speeder accident, but that was a lie, wasn't it?"

Kean opened his mouth to defend himself, but all of the accusing stares around him froze his voice in his throat.

"Is that true, Father?" Kendo said, walking up to the group, a younger but still identical image of his father and a male version of Ketsu. He was followed by two more of his half siblings, both younger than his sister. "Did you kill my mother?"

"It was an accident!" Kean finally managed to spew out. "We were sparring! Everyone knows the women have to train harder to make it as a warrior against stronger men."

"That may be true," Sabine said, stepping into the conversation. "My mother was a firm believer of that very same philosophy and I trained my ass off to make up for my small size. But there has to be a line somewhere between sparring and beating and you more than crossed it. Ketsu came back to the Academy after every holiday covered in bruises and once even with a broken arm. You can call it sparring till you turn blue, Onyo, but as the bigger person you should have known better. As a husband and father, you are a failure."

"How dare you call me that, you little whore," Kean all but shouted as steam almost literally spewed from his ears. "Selling yourself to the enemy, sleeping with a Jedi. Everyone knows your mother disowned you at the same time I disowned Ketsu. You shouldn't even be allowed to step foot on this planet. Your mother was weak when she took you back. She deserved what she got when her daughter's own weapon killed her."

Sabine flinched at the insults that also felt too much like the truth if you twisted them a different way.

More than one person was about to come to Sabine's defence when someone else beat them to it.

"That's ENOUGH, Father!" Kendo yelled, getting right in his father's face and meeting him eye to eye. "I told you to keep your temper and remember where we are and now you've left me with no choice. You are dar'manda to me. I no longer acknowledge you as my blood kin."

"Me too," rang out from another Onyo and another and another, until every member of the Onyo Clan present had all disowned their Count, father, and relative. And then the leaders of the other clans or their representatives also added to the call.

Kean looked around frantically, not seeing any friendly faces left in the crowd.

Ketsu stepped up to her father one last time. "It's official now, you dishonourable excuse for a man. YOU are dar'manda too. You might want to scurry off and hide before the crowd decides to drag you to Sundari and hold you for trial for the death of my mother."

"I think we'll do that anyway," a new voice rang from the edge of the crowd. People parted to make way for their Mand'alor as she walked to the center of the crowd and joined the group everyone was staring at, Fenn following in her wake like a faithful bodyguard. Everyone politely ignored the fact that they both looked like they'd hastily thrown on just their bodysuits and the mussed hair. Bo-Katan stopped in front of the thoroughly panicked looking ex Count of Clan Onyo. "As your Mand'alor, I too declare you dar'manda and am placing you under arrest until a proper trial can be held."

Bo-Katan glanced around and spotted Hark and his men watching avidly nearby. "Captain Hark, would your men like to do the honours? As former Imperials, you must be familiar with the prison facilities available in Sundari. Do you think you could find the most uninviting cell available and throw him in it?"

Hark grinned as his men surrounded Kean Onyo and disarmed him before bodily dragging the furiously cursing man towards the Mand'alor's ship. "I know just the place, My Lady. He won't see a glimmer of sunlight for days. There might be a rodent problem. And I think the heater might be broken too."

Bo-Katan returned his smile. "Excellent."

As Hark followed his men away, he winked at Ketsu and mouthed the word 'badass'.

Ketsu blushed, thankful her darker skin hid the heat on her cheeks.

Bo-Katan turned her attention to Kendo. "It would seem your clan is in need of a new Count. Is there any here who object to this man being the Count of Clan Onyo?"

The Onyos shook their heads and the rest of the crowd remained silent.

"Good enough for me," Bo-Katan said with a smile. "Kendo Onyo, you are now Count of Clan Onyo. Take care of your family well."

Kendo beamed, even daring to look at his little sister and exchange smiles, even though she was technically still dar'manda. "Thank you, Mand'alor Kryze. I will not fail you or my people."

"That's what I like to hear." Bo-Katan then turned her attention to Ketsu. "And you. From what I've heard, you have been unjustly declared dar'manda. We should fix that."

"I was going to do that before we were rudely interrupted," Sabine piped in with.

Bo-Katan nodded once. "Very well. The Wrens are in need of new members anyway. You may proceed."

"Thank you," Sabine said graciously. She turned to her family. "Father, Shubin, I call on you as members of my clan to bear witness to the adoption of Ketsu into our clan. Do you agree?"

"I do," Alrich and Shubin said together, both smiling at the turn of events.

Sabine faced her friend. "Ni kar'taylir gai sa ner vod, Ketsu Wren."

The crowd whooped as Ketsu beamed through sudden tears and hugged Sabine. "Thank you, Sabine."

Sabine hugged her back. "You're welcome, sister."

Kanan touched their shoulders, smiling. "Welcome to the family, Ketsu. I'll go find Chopper now and meet you at your ship."

The girls watched him effortlessly wind his way through the crowd. "How does he do that? I'd hit every table and person if I was blind," Ketsu wondered.

Sabine shrugged. "Sometimes I feel like most of us recieved the short straw when it comes to the Force. All I know for sure is that he will unerringly find your ship amongst the veritable sea of them out there and he'll do it like it's no big deal. It's shabla impressive, really."

Ketsu hmmpphed as Bo-Katan stepped up onto a bench, drawing attention to herself once again.

"My people! I have one more proclamation to make this evening before I disappear again for the night."

The crowd stilled and quieted, everyone turning to face their Mand'alor again.

With her eyes fixed on Fenn and a smile on her lips, Bo-Katan said, "Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde."

Fenn's eyes widened for a moment before he repeated the vows quickly but succinctly, and clearly very happily.

The crowd went a little crazy with the cheers, Sabine and her family included, as their Mand'alor jumped off the bench and into Fenn's arms and they kissed passionately. They were still cheering as he carried her in his arms back to their tent.

Alrich wrapped an arm around his daughter's shoulders and put a hand on Ketsu's. "I am now blessed to have two such amazingly strong daughters in my life."

Sabine smiled up at her dad. "Thanks, daddy. You're the best father, too."

"Thanks, Lord Wren," Ketsu said too. "I've always wished I was part of your family and not my own."

Alrich squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "Well, now you are. And you can call me father, if you like. I would be proud to hear it."

"All right, Father." Ketsu said a little hesitantly, fighting tears again. This had turned into the best cargo run ever.

Sabine pulled away from the little group. "I'm going to get some food and feed my Jedi. Ketsu, I'll see you soon, I'm sure. Father, if you want to take the other ship and head to Krownest with Shubin and the others tonight, go ahead. Ezra and I... We'll get there. Tomorrow probably."

Ketsu and Alrich chuckled as Sabine blushed at her own words and what they implied. Alrich hugged her one more time and kissed her on top of her head. "Don't rush for my sake. I'll take care of our clan until you come home to us."

Sabine smiled a little mistily, kissed his cheek, and then turned and disappeared into the crowd; her diminutive height making it easy to do.

Ketsu sighed a little. "Right. I'm off. See you sometime soon, Pops."

"Hey!" Alrich exclaimed as Ketsu laughed and wandered away. He chuckled to himself and took his seat again beside Shubin. "At least life is never going to be boring with two artist warriors as daughters," he said to no one in particular as he picked up his glass of something turquoise and incredibly high in alcohol content. (He figured today was a perfect day to get fantastically drunk since mourning his wife and son was still too painful to think about right now.)

Shubin and the rest of their table laughed.

Ketsu had only made it a few metres before Kendo stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. The siblings stared at each other for half a minute, not sure what to say.

"I'm sorry," Kendo eventually said. "I didn't know Father was beating you."

Ketsu shrugged, feeling awkward. "It's not your fault. I hid it, thinking it was my fault for not being good enough. I think Mother did the same."

Kendo shook his head. "I still should have seen that something wasn't right."

Ketsu put a hand on his arm. "Don't blame yourself. It's over. I don't want to dwell on the past anymore. I have a good clan now, and I'm happy."

"I'm glad. I'm sorry you don't want to come back to Clan Onyo, but I understand. I would like to still claim you as my sister, if that's all right with you. I never agreed with Father's decision to cast you out."

"I would like that. Thank you, Kendo," Ketsu said softly. "Let's keep in touch, okay?"

"Okay."

They smiled tightly at each other before sidling apart and going separate ways. It was going to take a while for that relationship to reform into something comfortable.

Ketsu wound through the edges of the crowd and then strode for her ship, passing the bored sentry at the gate again. She found Jett leaning against the side of the Shadow Caster. He smiled widely when he saw her. "Hey, beautiful. Some day, hunh?"

Ketsu snorted lightly at that understatement. "Hey yourself. Aren't you supposed to be escorting the prisoner?" She couldn't bring herself to say 'her father'. He would never get that title again.

Jett shrugged. "He's currently stunned unconscious, has all eight of my men guarding him, and he's cuffed to a wall. I don't think he's going anywhere. I didn't want to miss you before you left."

Awwwww. He really did care. Or he just really wanted to get laid. Whatever. Ketsu smiled, showing a lot of teeth. "Come on then, hotstuff, and I'll write down my frequency for you."

Jett eagerly bounded after her up the ramp of her ship and followed her to the small common room. She found a permanent red marker in her art supplies and walked up to Jett. After pushing the sleeve of his black tunic up past his elbow, she wrote the complicated frequency on the underside of his muscular forearm before blowing on it lightly to make sure the ink was dry before pulling the sleeve back down as he shivered lightly.

Ketsu looked up at him, smiling softly. "So you don't lose it."

Jett cupped her cheek with a large hand, grey eyes looking incredibly soft and filled with desire. "Never gonna happen," he breathed. He tilted his head down and gave her a soft kiss filled with heat and promise.

Ketsu's eyes fluttered open as he pulled away, hand caressing her jaw as he did so. "Shabla hell, Jett, I have got to make some time to be with you."

He brushed a thumb over her lips. "As soon as we can make it happen, I can guarentee you're going to see me again." He gave her one last promise filled look before he left her ship, passing the older Jedi and his droid on the ramp. They did the nod thing and Jett aimed for the Mand'alor's ship, his men, and his prisoner. What a strange day, indeed. But turning into an amazing one, he thought with a smile and a bounce in his step.

Kanan was surprised to see Ezra's challenger leaving Ketsu's ship, momentarily thinking he'd mistaken the shape of her ship for another one, but no, Ketsu's signature was definitely in there. Shrugging off the curiosity, knowing he'd find out eventually if it was important, Kanan strode into ship.

Ketsu appeared at the top of the ramp and closed it once everyone was on board. "You ready to go home to Hera, Jedi Senior?"

Kanan nodded, smiling happily at the thought, and Chopper beeped an eager, "Yes!"

"Good." Ketsu strode past stacks of crates, down a hallway, and to the bridge of her ship with her passengers following. "Cause I'm more than ready to drop you and the other cargo off and call in some vacation time. I've got a date with Captain Fine Ass."

"Who?" Chopper beeped.

Kanan settled into the co-pilot's seat after tossing his bag of personal items that he'd snuck onto the Gauntlet to get onto the floor. (Ezra had still been asleep, so he hadn't bothered him. Sabine could have that honour.) He grinned at Ketsu's statement. That took even less time than he thought for his unspoken question to be answered. He may have missed something along the way, but it seemed that the Force was working in mysterious ways again.

He wasn't surprised in the least.

* * *

_Mando'a words:_

_Ni kar'taylir gai sa ner vod. – I know your name as my sister._


	11. The Best Kind of Love

**The Best Kind of Love:**

Sabine carried the heaping plates of food into the Gauntlet and then hit the button to close the ramp with her elbow on the way by.

She hummed a Mando drinking song under her breath as she walked, having heard a group of loud, and well on their way to being sotted, warriors singing it as she was scouting the buffet tables for the best options. Sabine was in a very good mood; feeling like the entire day had been a dream worthy success. Was it only this morning that they'd gone to destroy the Duchess? Somehow, it felt like a lifetime ago already.

She took the plates of food to the small galley / common room and set them on the table and then plunked down the four water bottles that had been trapped between her arm and her torso. Sabine had thought about getting them something stronger to drink but decided against it after remembering the first and last time Ezra had alcohol.

Despite Kanan's warning that it was a bad idea, Rex had talked Ezra into joining him and Zeb in a game of Sabacc and Shots while Hera was away on a training mission with Phoenix Squadron. Of course Rex and Zeb had used the strongest Corellian Whiskey possible. Of course Ezra had lost almost every hand. And of course he ended up passed out drunk in about half an hour. And of course he'd felt sick for a whole day afterwards from the unfamiliar alcohol poisoning.

Zeb and Rex had thought it was hilarious.

Kanan had said, "I told you so," and force fed Ezra as much soothing tea as he could stand.

Sabine hadn't been surprised at all, considering Ezra hadn't even had so much as a beer before joining the crew, and Hera had been fierce in her determination to keep it that way. She kept her ship alcohol free for Kanan's sake, anyway, and not letting the minors drink was just something else she did with her natural mothering instincts.

Ezra hadn't been inclined towards trying any alcohol since. That was more than a year ago now.

Sabine, on the other hand, had practically been raised on mead, and after her stint as a bounty hunter, she was quite capable of drinking pretty much anything without batting an eye.

But she was just as happy to drink water or caf as anything else, so water with dinner it was. The good news was that someone had brought a whole container of exotic flavouring beads for the water bottles. Sabine hadn't seen those in a long time and had grabbed a handful of the little treats and put them in the pocket of Ezra's jacket for transport. Now, she dug them out and picked off a couple pieces of lint before finding a cup to store them in for now.

Leaving the room, Sabine went back to the cargo area and grabbed Ezra's t-shirt, belt and weapons, and her helmet, and then made for Ezra's cabin with a purpose to her step. She put everything down on a small desk as quietly as possible and then paused and just looked at her husband.

Her shoulders rose and fell as she sighed softly in contentment to just stop for a moment and watch him sleep. He was still in roughly the same position she'd left him in, sprawled across the entire bed, but now completely covered with all the available blankets. He must have gotten cold without her keeping him warm. His face was turned towards her and he looked adorable and so very peaceful as the barest hint of a snore escaped him.

He looked so very young and innocent like that, Sabine suddenly felt a hundred years older than him. But she shrugged off that silliness, knowing that when it came to life experience, Ezra was every bit as old as her; he'd had to grow up way before his time when he'd lost his parents at the age of seven and been forced to survive in the streets of Lothal. She didn't lose her family until she was fourteen, so he was winning (if you could call it that) already, with that alone.

Not wanting to delve any further into depressing territory, Sabine stepped forward and whispered a caressing hand over his short, silky hair. She bent down and pressed her lips to his cheek ever so softly, smiling as he made a pleased sounding hum as he finally sensed her presence. "Are you hungry, Ez?" she whispered in his nicely formed ear.

* * *

When Sabine had left their bed earlier, Ezra had been tugged from his sleep by the sense of loss of something precious. She'd told him to go back to sleep, but he'd cracked an eye open and watched her mouth-watering naked form walk over to the refresher door and disappear inside. Ezra was looking forward to seeing views like that for the rest of his life.

He'd sighed in contented bliss at how perfect his wife was and then let his eye fall closed again, catching a few more zzzzzs until the refresher door opened again. He could feel her gaze on him but he'd kept his eyes closed, making a show of obeying her suggestion to sleep some more. The sense of contentment and love radiating from her made his chest tighten with how much he returned the feelings for her.

As she'd left their cabin, he'd cracked his eyes open again, unable to resist the temptation to watch her rear end move from side to side in a gentle sway. If pressed, he might admit he'd been sneaking peaks at that perfect ass for years. Maybe.

The distant sound of the ramp lowering had been his cue to make his own trip to the refresher. While in there, he'd made the delightful discovery that Sabine hadn't put on her underwear or armour. The very thought that she was only half dressed was enough to get his cock twitching in excitement. He'd talked it back into submission with an image of Vader and then tugged on his shorts and pants. He'd left the socks and boots in the corner with Sabine's things. He may also have picked up Sabine's sports bra and inhaled her sweet scent from the fabric, but he didn't want to admit to that one either, since it made him feel a little stalkerish.

He'd then left his cabin with the intention of finding something to drink but had been distracted by the sound of voices coming from the cargo hold. Walking on silent bare feet, he'd made it almost to the top of the ramp and shamelessly eavesdropped on Sabine and Ketsu's conversation about Captain Hark, finding out a lot more about his challenger than he'd known before. As an example, he hadn't known Hark was the Imp he'd kicked out of Alrich's transport yesterday. Or that he'd been friends, or at least friendly, with Tristan.

Ezra hadn't been surprised to hear that Ketsu was here to pick up Kanan and Chopper; Kanan and Hera had been separated for three days now, and that was a long time for them.

He was surprised to find out that Ketsu apparently had designs on Hark, but he shrugged it off as a, 'who knows what females are thinking?' thing.

Then the girls had left, talking about fixing Ketsu's status or something to that effect. Deciding to leave them to it, having no real interest in what Ketsu was doing, he'd turned to go back to the galley for some water. At this point, he'd spotted his shirt and weapons and Sabine's colourful helmet. He'd almost picked them up, but then thought better of it, since it might cause Sabine to question whether or not he'd been in the vicinity while she was talking to Ketsu. And who knew if Sabine considered that to be a sacred 'girl' conversation or not. So he left the pile of things behind and ignored how he'd suddenly felt cold and would really like to put that t-shirt on.

Annnnnd, where was his jacket?

Leaving that mystery for later as well, he'd hurried back to the galley, gulped a cup of water, and then ensconced himself back under the warm covers after shucking his pants which were too dirty from all the activity they'd seen over the last 24 hours to even contemplate sullying his bed with their presence.

He must have fallen back to sleep because the next thing he knew, soft lips were kissing his cheek and a sexy voice was whispering in his ear, making him shiver ever so slightly in pleasure.

Ezra's eyes cracked open and he looked up into Sabine's gorgeous smiling face. He rolled more onto his back while snaking a hand out from under the covers. He cupped the back of her head and pulled her down to him for a gentle 'good morning' type kiss, even though it was more like evening.

Sabine smiled into the kiss before nipping his bottom lip with her teeth and then pulling back. "Come on, sleepy head, I've got food for us. And some of it's actually still warm, so get up."

"Sweet." Excited by the prospect of food, Ezra tossed the covers off and bounced off the bed.

Sabine giggled at his enthusiasm as she grabbed his t-shirt and tossed it at him while he tugged his pants back on, hopping awkwardly into them. Sabine was surprised to see him in his undershorts already, but then figured he must have gotten up at some point while she was gone. Now he pulled his t-shirt on quickly and then wrapped his arms around her and tugged her into his chest while playfully growling into her neck. "Someone stole my jacket."

Sabine laughed at the ticking sensation of his voice rumbling on her skin. "I don't know who that could possibly be. We'll have to go searching for the culprit."

Ezra growled again and then chuckled as he released her. "I'll let them get away with it for now, considering it looks so good on the person in question," he said over his shoulder as he went to the closet to pull out a soft navy blue sweater Hera had given him for Life Day but hadn't actually worn yet. (He was quite partial to his orange jacket that Sabine had found for him when they went clothes shopping due to how he'd definitely outgrown his last jacket.) As he pulled the sweater over his head, he was amazed to realize that Life Day had only been four days ago, right before the Imperial attack on Atallon. How time flies and lifetimes can be lived in only a few days.

Sabine admired the new sweater that she hadn't seen on him before, loving how it brought the blue highlights out in his hair and made his royal blue eyes look even bluer, if that was even possible. In her opinion, other than blue, the only colour that looked better on him was white, but that was such an impractical colour to wear with their lifestyle. She couldn't help but walk up to him and wrap her arms around his waist. "New sweater?"

"Hmmmm," Ezra affirmed returning her hug. "Life Day present from Hera. I think I like it. It's comfy."

"Well, I love it," Sabine said as she pulled back and started for the galley as her stomach reminded her yet again that she was starving. "We need to add more blues to your wardrobe."

"What's wrong with orange?" Ezra asked as he trailed half a step behind her.

"There's nothing wrong with orange. But you look downright edible in blue."

Ezra paused midstep and blinked at the back of her head. "I guess I'm going to buy more blue things, then."

Sabine laughed as she tossed a wink over her shoulder at him. "You do that, Ez. I promise you won't regret it."

Ezra gulped and flushed at the husky tone she'd adopted. Oh boy, was he ever gonna buy more blue shirts.

He stumbled after her as she disappeared into the living area of the ship. Ezra turned the corner to find her seated on the couch behind the table and already digging into an overflowing plate of food. Ezra settled into the spot beside her and picked up his own fork. He didn't recognize some of the things she'd picked for them, but that didn't matter; Ezra would eat pretty much anything. After living on the streets for seven years, he really wasn't picky.

They didn't talk as they took the edge off their hunger, but Ezra slowed down after a minute and started to appreciate what was going into his mouth. He pointed at a red sauce covered, battered meat ball. "What's this? Cause it's fantastic."

Sabine glanced at what he was pointing at and smiled, since that was one of her favourites too. "Sleesh tip-yip. Or berry chicken in Ewokese. It's often imitated with other fowl, but I'm pretty sure this was made with real Endor chickens; nothing tastes better than an Endor chicken. Just don't ask me where someone managed to find some here on Mandalore."

Ezra speared another chicken ball. "You won't hear any arguments from me." He chewed through the ball with a happy smile and then reached for one of the water bottles.

"Oh," Sabine said, stopping him before he could take a drink. She held a cup of colourful gel filled beads out to him. "Here; try one of these in your water."

Ezra raised a brow but selected an orange one and dropped it into his water. "What is it?" he asked, after the fact, trusting her as she did the same to another water bottle with a purple bead. They watched as their water quickly changed colour.

"They're flavour balls. The fun part is you never know what flavour you're going to end up with. It could be almost anything food or drink related and the colour doesn't usually indicate what the flavour will be."

Ezra looked at his water suspiciously but bravely tried a sip. He laughed as the bittersweet flavour of dark chocolate flooded his mouth. "You might want this one, cyar'ika; it's your favourite."

Sabine's eyes lit up. "Chocolate?"

He nodded and chuckled as she snatched the bottle from his hands, drinking eagerly.

Ezra appropriated the other bottle and tried the purple coloured water. Braver than before, he took a big gulp and then instantly regretted it as the sour liquid almost burned its way down his throat.

Sabine laughed as he coughed and sputtered, unhelpfully pounding him on the back. "What is it?" she asked when he regained the ability to breath properly.

Ezra pushed the bottle away and grabbed another, unopened one, gulping down plain water eagerly. "I don't know, but it's awful."

Sabine took the purple drink and tried a sip out of curiosity. "What's wrong with this? This is a Citrus Slammer. Or at least, what a Citrus Slammer tastes like. There's no alcohol in the flavour beads."

Ezra scoffed. "It's all yours. I'll stick with plain water."

Sabine shook her head at him. "At least try one more in the last bottle."

Ezra heaved an exaggerated sigh and then did as she asked, not able to deny those big amber eyes anything. He grabbed a bead without looking at the colour and ended up with a dark green one. Plunking it in the remaining full bottle, he waited a moment and then took a very small sip. "Oooooo. Space waffles!" he exclaimed happily. "With yogan syrup and everything!"

"Now that one's all yours," Sabine said, shaking her head as she resumed eating. "Enjoy."

"Oh, I'm going to." Ezra said, sipping his green water once more before attacking another sleesh tip-yip ball.

They finished their meal in easy silence, shoulders and legs brushing on purpose and exchanging love filled glances.

When their disposable plates where empty, Ezra grabbed them and took them to the trash bin and then returned to the couch. Sitting, he pulled Sabine sideways onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

They sighed in sync, eliciting a soft laugh from Sabine.

"So, now what?" Ezra asked, knowing what he wanted her to say, but not presuming to anticipate anything.

Sabine glanced up at him, her eyes teasing. "Well, technically, we should be leaving for Krownest. Kanan's already left with Ketsu, whom Hera sent to get him. Father and the others are leaving shortly as well."

"Oh." Ezra hid his disappointment. Sort of.

"But..." Sabine drew out the word, teasing him some more. "They're not expecting us until tomorrow, so I was thinking we'd just stay right here and watch a movie. It's been a long time since we watched a movie together."

Ezra squeezed her and kissed the top of her head. "I'd like that very much." He floated the remote control for the entertainment unit over to his hand from where it sat on the other side of the room and activated the large holoscreen. "What do you want to see?" he asked as he pulled up a menu of already downloaded movies, most of which he'd never seen or heard of and they all had release dates from years ago, some even as old as two centuries.

Sabine glanced at the menu before returning her attention to admiring his handsome face, wondering how she'd been quite so oblivious to just how good looking he was. "I don't care. Pick something."

Ezra rolled his eyes slightly at how incredibly unhelpful that was. "At least narrow it down for me. You want action war movie, comedy, or sappy romance?"

Sabine almost said 'sappy romance' just to mess with him, but instead went with, "Comedy. I'm in the mood to just turn my brain off and laugh a little."

Ezra smiled down at her, agreeing with her statement. "Comedy it is." He picked one from the list at random, titled, 'The Interminable Day'. Ezra thought he could sympathize with that one, having lived more than one day that seemed to go on forever.

The hundred year old movie turned out to be about a cocky Jedi who woke up to the exact same day over and over again as he struggled to right all of the disasters that were happening around him all at once with Force tricks and hard-earned foreknowledge. Nothing helped until he enlisted the help of a pretty local girl and stopped trying to fix everything with the Force. He learned that to love was more important than being all-powerful. And once he learned to trust in the Force and those around him, everything finally worked itself out and he moved on to the next day of his life; with the pretty girl at his side and a new understanding of what he wanted from life and what life wanted from him. They lived happily ever after, traveling the galaxy wherever the Force willed it and fixing wrongs as they found them.

Ezra and Sabine did laugh a little, but the movie turned out to be more sappy romance than comedy. Neither cared as they watched in rapt fascination, snuggled together on the couch. When the end credits rolled some two hours after it started, it took a moment for Ezra to turn off the holoscreen and then put the remote down on the table.

He focused on the woman in his arms and smiled at her sweetly. "That was an excellent movie. Although, I'm surprised it's on Maul's playlist. I never really took him as the romantic type."

Sabine raised a hand and cupped his jaw, feeling the stubble that was trying to make a half-hearted appearance. "Maybe he liked how the main character left the chains of the Order behind and did his own thing. He may have been an abominable creature, but from what I know of his species and his Sith Master, I think he was essentially a slave for the first half of his life. And after that? I got the impression he was a slave to his own inner demons. Perhaps even monsters need to lose themselves in the whimsical and romantic."

Ezra bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips before whispering, "You, my beautiful wife, are incredibly intuitive for a non Force sensitive. And despite your tough girl shell, you have the heart of an angel. I am helpless to do anything but love you more with every day that I know you."

Sabine melted at his words, something she'd been doing a lot of lately. She smiled softly at him as her fingers stroked his jaw and her other hand tangled in his short hair. "And you have the soul of a romantic poet under your fun-loving exterior. I don't know where you've been hiding it all this time, Ez, but if you had come up with lines like that when we first met, I doubt it would have taken me so long to figure out that I love you too."

Ezra grinned as he grasped the hand that was caressing his jaw and started pressing kisses to the tips of her slender fingers. "My younger self was too much of a dork to come up with good lines, so I doubt anything would have changed. I'm happy with how things turned out; I'm now married to my best friend and she's sitting in my lap. You couldn't pay me enough to find something wrong with this situation."

"Hmmmmm," Sabine mumbled as little jolts of electricity shot up her arm and through her body from where he was now nibbling and licking on her fingers. "I'm quickly approaching ridiculously happy as well, Ezra." She tugged her hand free before she had a meltdown and wrapped it behind his neck. She looked up at him with heavy lidded eyes. "I'm also thinking of a few things we could do now that would make me even happier."

Ezra's heart did a little happy dance as his blood flowed south in a rush. He stood up abruptly, cradling her small form in his arms and strode for their cabin. He gazed down at her as he walked; only using his peripheral vision to guide himself. "Since I would never presume to go against my Lady's wishes, I fully agree with the naughty thoughts you're currently thinking."

Sabine gave him a squinty eyed look as he laid her down on their bed and settled himself beside her. "Are you reading my mind again?" There was no heat in her voice, though, too ready to fully consummate their marriage to care about the mental intrusion.

Ezra unzipped his orange jacket off her body and smirked at her. "Yep. And wow, do you ever have some naughty ideas. I like it. Keep broadcasting them like that and I'm going to have a hard time remembering my own name in a minute."

Sabine smirked back as she sat up and shrugged out of his jacket before diving her hands under his sweater and t-shirt and pulling them off over his head in one swift motion. "That's alright, considering you have a new name now, anyway, Ezra Wren."

"WHAT?!"

Ezra stared at his wife in shock while she pulled the top half of her bodysuit off. "What do you mean my name's Ezra Wren now?" he asked suspiciously even as he was distracted by her perfect palm sized breasts as they made an appearance. His mouth watered to taste those succulent little nipples again that were so incredibly responsive to his touch. "Not that there's anything wrong with the name Wren," he quickly added on, before she got offended. But he liked his last name. It was his parents' name.

Sabine's smirk stayed firmly in place, noting where his eyes had strayed while she hooked her fingers in the waistband of her leggings and pushed them down in a sensuous wiggle. "You married a countess, babe. That means you take MY name. You think my father's original name was Wren? I don't think so. Try Kryze. He's Bo-Katan's second cousin. But he married my mother, which means he takes the Wren name. Oh, and speaking of name changes; Fenn just married Bo-Katan. No surprise there," she added with a quick roll of the eyes at Ezra, whose eyes popped up to hers at that little announcement from where they'd been wandering over body.

"Really?" Ezra said in surprise. "I sensed he was quite drawn to her, but Bo-Katan seemed to just tolerate his presence. What did I miss?"

Sabine shrugged and pushed him over on his back so she could pull his pants and shorts off since he didn't seem to be doing it himself. "I don't know. But they were definitely going at it before I saw them together again when I went out to get food; their armour was missing and their hair was standing up in a hundred different directions. He's definitely a Kryze now. You and Fenn have just joined the world of: 'You have married up the food chain, now live with the consequences.'"

Ezra snorted. "I guess I can do that, since those consequences come with YOU as a wife," he said in a sarcastically teasing tone. The caressing hands he now had roaming over her body in a reverent fashion told the true story of exactly how he felt about being married to her.

Sabine wrinkled her nose at him as she tossed the last of their clothing over her shoulder in the general direction of the floor. "You better, since there's no undoing the vows. You're stuck with me and my name for life, babe."

"Excellent," he said with a pleased grin. "That means you're stuck with me, too. I like that."

"You would," she said with a knowing smirk. Her eyes roamed the body she had uncovered appreciatively then paused as she admired the prominent erection he was sporting that she had bared, deciding it got more appealing with familiarity. She was also impressed that their conversation wasn't impairing his ability to focus on what truly mattered. "Remind me to tell you about the Onyo drama later. Ketsu's a Wren now, too."

Ezra raised a brow at that even as he grasped her by the waist and helped her straddle his abdomen. "Don't tell me she just married your father or cousin or something?"

Sabine laughed and leaned down to nibble at his jawline. "You're funny. No, I officially adopted her into my clan as my sister."

"Ah," he said, thinking that made total sense. His eyes closed as her soft lips travelled along his jaw and then up his cheek to the scars that were astonishingly sensitive all of a sudden. He let one hand wander down to her somehow soft and yet firm butt cheek while the other wrapped around her back and pressed her closer so that her breasts brushed his chest.

Sabine smiled as it became apparent that Ezra had given up the illusion of their vaguely civilized banter and was now just losing himself in the pleasure she was giving him.

Ooooo. And speaking of giving pleasure; she hummed in delight as the hand that had been caressing her arse snuck further down. His talented fingers that had learnt her favourite spots so quickly stroked her sensitive folds just so and were rewarded with a sudden gush of her cream. "Stars, Ez," she breathed against his ear. "You're already way too good at turning me on."

Ezra opened his eyes and turned his head, smiling at her with a pleased twinkle in the blue of the fathomless depths. Holding her tighter with the one arm, he spun them around so he was above her, mouth hovering over hers. "I'm a fast learner," he murmured, before sealing their lips together in a long and passionate kiss. Maybe one day he'd tell her that he could sense when she particularly liked something he was doing. But then again, maybe not. He liked that she was impressed by his skill.

Sabine moaned into the kiss as his hand continued the gentle torture of her core. She decided two could play that game and snuck her hand down his side and then over to where his length pressed against her thigh. She wrapped her fingers around the warm and throbbing cock and squeezed gently before starting a stroking motion that had worked on him before. He tensed against her for a moment before settling into the kiss again with a groan.

They pulled apart after a minute and stared at each other as they panted and their hands stayed busy.

"I think... I think I'd really like to feel you inside me," Sabine said quietly and a little tentatively.

Ezra froze and then nodded quickly in agreement. "I'd like that very much, too," he all but squeaked before clearing his throat in embarrassment.

Sabine smiled slightly as they both moved their hands up to more neutral territory and he settled more directly into the cradle of her thighs.

Ezra looked down at where he was now only a fraction from her moist warmth and then looked back up at her face. She was biting her lip and her brushed sideways bangs were sticking to her forehead from sweat. She looked beautiful. "Errrmmm. There's a couple of things I should probably ask before we do this," he said as he felt his face heat.

Sabine raised a brow as her hands restlessly stroked up and down the muscles of his arms that were now braced on either side of her. "What could that possibly be?"

Ezra cast his gaze down to her chest before peeking up at her again shyly. "How do you feel about kids?"

She blinked a couple times before getting the gist of where he might be going with this. "Ahhh. Well. Someday? But definitely not yet. That work for you?"

Ezra nodded quickly, smiling. "Yeah. That works. Are you... ummm. Protected?"

Now she nodded, blushing faintly. "I'm on period regulators. I'm pretty sure the shots also work as contraceptives. At least, I think that's what the droid said all those years ago. I wasn't really paying attention; I was twelve."

Ezra's face heated further at the mention of the deadly 'period'. All the guys on the ship had learnt long ago to step lightly around her when she got cranky on a monthly basis. "That's good," he mumbled, knowing he had to say something. He figured that was safe enough. Then he sucked in a breath and asked the last question that had been bothering him. "I know you said you've never done this before. Does that mean it's going to hurt you? Cause I don't wanna hurt you," he finished in a rush.

Sabine blushed beet red as she stared at his chest just as hard as he was staring at hers. "You... don't have to worry about that either. I ummm, play with toys, if you know what I mean."

Ezra basically stopped breathing as an image of Sabine playing with herself shot into his mind and he gulped as he found it sexy as hell. "You have got to do that for me. I want to see it," he all but begged.

Sabine eyes shot up to his. "You don't think it makes me sound slutty or something?"

Ezra shook his head and leaned down, kissing her quickly. "Never. No one calls a guy a slut for taking care of business on his own. Who would call a girl a slut if she does the same?"

Sabine wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a grateful kiss. "You'd be surprised at how many cultures still suffer from backwards thinking."

Ezra snorted. "You mean like the old Jedi Order and their no attachment rule?" He rolled his eyes before becoming serious again. Balancing on one hand, he brushed her bangs off her forehead and pressed a kiss to the center of it. Then he kept going, raining butterfly kisses over her eyelids, cheekbones, nose, jawline, and then finally settling on her mouth. "You're perfect, and sexy, and mine, no matter what you do," he murmured against her lips before kissing them both breathless.

When he pulled back, Sabine's eyes fluttered open and he smiled at her with the softest, most loving smile she'd ever seen. "I love you, Ezra," she felt compelled to murmur, hands grasping his neck and back tightly.

"I love you more," he said with a grin before pushing more upright again. He glanced down at where they were a fraction away from being connected and then back up at her. "You ready to do this, then?"

She bit her lip again as she nodded, much more sure of herself than she'd been before. "Do it. Join us," she all but demanded.

"As my Countess wishes," he said, winking at her. He looked down again and frowned in concentration as he moved his hips forward a tiny fraction and then another until he was actually touching her soft heat with his tip. Glancing up quickly, he double checked to make sure Sabine was still okay with this. After receiving an encouraging nod, Ezra pressed forward more until the head had disappeared within her tight clasp. "Oh, Force, that's good," he choked out.

Sabine's arms tightened around him as she wound her legs around his thighs. "I have a feeling it gets better. Keep going." Her eyes closed as he did and she rested her forehead on his shoulder while the biggest thing by far that had ever been inside her surged forward until he was fully seated in her channel. She couldn't help the moan that escaped as her walls pulsed around him in a mini orgasm from the stretching stimulation.

"Oh Force. Oh Force," Ezra panted as he was held in the hottest, silkiest, wettest clasp. "I think my control is going to last for about point five seconds," he warned. "This is kriffing amazing!"

Sabine tilted her head back so she could see him again. "Don't worry about it. Just move. If I don't keep up, then we'll just have to try again."

Ezra stared into her dilated amber eyes with adoration. "Perfect," he said again before he drew back a few centimetres and then surged forward again. They both gasped in unison at how amazing that felt, so he did it again.

And again.

And again.

Soon, he was drawing back further and thrusting harder. Sabine was basically biting his shoulder. And he was having a hard time not babbling nonsense about how much he loved her pussy. He managed to keep it to a more simple and basic chant of, "Love. Love. Love."

And, as he'd feared, the unfamiliar but heavenly stimulation was too much for his control on the first try. He tensed as he hardened even more and his balls drew up tight. "Sabine," he warned on a groan.

She bit him for real as he hit the end of her channel in a particularly hard thrust. Ezra didn't care. She tore her mouth off him for a second as he pulled back one last time. "Give it to me!" she demanded, so very very close to reaching her own peak.

He did, burying himself in her to the hilt and then shooting off like an explosion in her depths.

Ezra groaned, fisting the bedding as he emptied himself into his beloved wife in the best climax of his life.

His hands were suddenly torn from the sheets as he was pushed over on his back by a miniature warrior goddess.

Sabine clasped her thighs around his hips, dug her nails into his chest and rode his still hard length, chasing the orgasm that was. Almost. There.

She shifted a little, finding a different angle as Ezra looked up at her with blissed out eyes and a crooked smile.

The new angle found something more sensitive inside her and she gasped. And then Ezra moved his hands off the bed and found her clit with one and a nipple with the other.

Sabine whimpered and shivered as her muscles clamped down in a powerful orgasm that sent her eyes rolling back.

Ezra watched the mesmerizing scene with awe, as it was easily enough to keep him from going soft inside her. In fact, the echoes of her orgasm were whispering through their bond and into his body, so it was almost like he'd just come again too.

Sabine finally relaxed enough to open her eyes and collapse forward onto his chest, snuggling into the hard muscles with a contented sigh. "I think I love your cock," she murmured against his skin.

Ezra chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her back and threaded the fingers of one hand through the silky strands of her cream and purple hair. "I happen to be particularly fond of it, myself," he said with a smile.

Sabine's eyes popped open and she looked at him with horror. "Did I say that out loud?"

He nodded and kissed her nose. "Yep. But if it makes you feel any better, I love your pussy, too."

She blushed and tucked her head back down, hiding her face. "Shabla haran," she muttered. And that was it.

Ezra just chuckled some more, more a rumble in his chest that she felt more than anything else.

"That's a new one. I get shabla, but what's haran?" Although, now that he thought about it, he's pretty sure he's heard her mutter it during missions that had gone from bad to worse.

Sabine glanced up at him before she settled into the crook of his neck with a sigh. "Haran means something like 'hell' but so much worse. It's more like the annihilation of the cosmos."

Ezra laughed out loud. "It's not that bad, Sabine, honest. I'm super flattered."

She huffed and nipped the skin under her mouth. "You would be, cocky Jedi."

Ezra just grinned and kissed the top of her head.

His hands caressed the velvet skin of her back and his cock was thoroughly enjoying its current location of her even more velvety channel. He thought he'd be perfectly content to stay locked together with her for the rest of his life if it was even remotely practical.

It took Sabine a minute to notice, but she did eventually, that the cock she'd decided was the most perfect appendage ever was still hard as a rock inside her. From what she knew of male anatomy, that wasn't normal. Shouldn't he be going soft by now? She wriggled a little in experimentation and heard him catch his breath.

Pushing up again, she looked at him with curious eyes. "I'm pretty sure we did it right, but I'm getting the impression you'd like to do it again." She deliberately clenched her walls around him as she said this, smirking as his eyes immediately dilated almost to black.

Ezra grasped her hips and smirked right back as he lifted her slightly and then let her fall. "I'm thinking the first time wasn't quite as perfect as it could be. I'm thinking we need more practice. I'm also thinking there are many more positions for us to try and it would be awesome to see how many of them I can make you come in."

Sabine's breath caught as he continued to pick her up and drop her as he spoke, but now doing it without touching her with his hands. Instead, he was using the Force and the show of control was setting her off incredibly quickly. "I think I really, really like that idea, Ez'ika," she purred. "If you can make me come five more times in five new positions in the next hour, I'll go down on you." She paused for effect and then leaned forward between his drops. Putting her mouth right against his ear, she added with a husky whsiper, "And swallow."

Ezra's eyes widened almost comically before he grinned like a tooka. "Challenge accepted, cyar'ika."

She quickly found herself lifted up and spun around so she was facing his feet and then lowered right back onto his shaft. He sat up behind her and surrounded her with his presence as he played with her clit and her breasts while nibbling little love bites up and down her neck.

Sabine moaned and wrapped her hands around his head backwards while he thrust into her slow and deep.

Something made her think he wasn't going to have any trouble winning her challenge.

And, stars, was she ever looking forward to it.


	12. Communicating and Second Guessing

**Communicating and Second Guessing:**

_D4/1 BBY, Mandalore_

Sabine stretched languidly, the weight of dreamless sleep still holding her on the cusp of not quite fully awake yet. Her hand bouncing off a warm body and the pleasant ache in her muscles that reminded her of a particularly hard workout session had her eyes opening quickly. The vague ache between her legs wasn't quite as pleasant, but she knew it was worth it.

She turned her head on her pillow and smiled rather dopily at the sight that greeted her.

Her husband was lying on his side, legs curled up, with his back to her. She was treated to a rather spectacular view of the lines of muscles down his triangular shaped back and the adorable, sexy roundness of his bottom, because neither of them had been inclined towards finding the covers that were lying on the floor in a heap. But could you really blame them? They'd been anything but cold after Ezra had literally loved her for an hour straight in the most intense, intimate, and loving round of sex yet. There had been a whole lot of kissing, a whole body embrace as he lay on her, and slow deep thrusts that lasted forever. Who knew that missionary would turn into her favorite position of them all?

Ezra was the dream lover she never knew she wanted.

Her dream lover was also snoring just a bit with every exhale.

Awwwwwww. She'd finally worn him out.

She glanced at the chrono on the wall and grinned. Ezra fully deserved to look like he was going to sleep for a week; with the exception of a couple of refresher breaks, they'd been ensconced in their bed for more than fourteen hours. And only about two of those hours were spent sleeping. She was seriously impressed with his stamina while mentally kicking herself once again for taking so long to realize that the prefect person for her was right in front of her nose. Even by Mandalorian standards, Ezra had far exceeded what was considered a good, considerate, and inventive lover.

Between the two of them, they'd both had a lot of ideas for positions and experiences they'd wanted to try. She doubted there was much left that they hadn't at least spent a good five minutes doing at some point or other during the long night and morning. They'd even covered some of the more athletic positions during a trip to the refresher that included standing up shower sex, and propped on the sink's counter with him standing between her legs.

The craziest idea he'd had, though, which had made her giggle the whole time as the blood rushed to her head and made her dizzy, was when he had her stand on her hands in the refresher beside the loo, legs spread in a split. (All that gymnastics training was coming in handy for reasons she never would have guessed.) He'd then jumped on the counter and stretched across to the shower wall, bracing himself horizontally above her and essentially doing pushups as he sunk his thick length into her over and over.

She'd held it for as long as she could until the laughter had made her lose her balance and fall over.

She knew then and there that sex with Ezra was never going to get boring, no matter how long they managed to live in this dangerous galaxy.

Grinning at the memory, Sabine quietly crawled around Ezra and slid off the bed. She should be just as exhausted as he was, but that last half hour nap had been enough to recharge her for the moment. Spotting Ezra's orange jacket on the floor, she slipped into it and did up the zipper, then started looking for her undershorts (even tossing the blanket pile around) before remembering she'd never put them back on earlier. Smirking a bit at how Ezra had reacted to that discovery with appreciative eyes, she then made for the refresher once again.

Emerging some minutes later with a happy bladder and minty fresh breath, Sabine meandered into the galley and made herself some hot chocolate, since that went better with toothpaste and she didn't want the buzz of caf when she had every intention of catching another quick nap soon.

Sipping on her beverage, Sabine continued her meander all the way to the cockpit. There, she made a few comm calls.

She started with Bo-Katan.

The Mand'alor answered her holo comm looking a great deal more put together than the last time Sabine had seen her.

"Countess Wren. Nice of you to finally show yourself in even a cursory fashion," Bo-Katan teased with a fairly deadpan face and tone.

Sabine smirked, not dismayed in the least by the subtle admonishment. "What can I say, Your Highness? A girl's gotta test drive her new husband thoroughly and make sure she didn't make a mistake."

Bo-Katan snorted, her mask of professionalism slipping. "Stars, Sabine. I hear you on that one." Her green eyes turned a little dreamy as she grinned slyly. "I confess that Fenn and I didn't emerge from my tent until a few hours ago. We'd probably still be there if the Rebellion hadn't called. For the fifth time, apparently."

Sabine shared a laugh with her relatively new friend. "I guess I missed it then?"

"You did. But this call was mostly about Mandalore's alliance with them and hashing out an alliance agreement, so you didn't miss much. I'm sure they'll get back to you sooner or later and further discuss your plans for liberating Lothal."

"Hmmmm, I'm sure." Sabine said noncommittally. She wasn't in the mood to think about another battle right now. She'd much rather go back to bed and snuggle up to her warm husband for another day or week or so and forget everything else for a little while longer.

"One little bit of news that I'm sure you will be interested in..."

Sabine raised a brow. "What's that?"

"High Command and I agreed that for the sake of convenience, they would appoint an ambassador to stay with my retinue."

"Ohhh? And you didn't mind having to add another person to your group that you'll probably have to look after?" Sabine asked curiously.

Bo-Katan smirked. "I think I picked the one option they gave me that knows how to take care of herself, can join in on a battle or two, and will fit in with my warriors perfectly."

Sabine gave her Mand'alor a suspicious look. "Not me, I hope? I have enough on my plate right now."

Bo-Katan shook her head, laughing. "No. Not you. You're new sister."

Sabine's eyes widened. "Ohhhh. Ketsu's perfect! I'll bet she'll love her new job. I know she's getting rather bored with the cargo runs."

"That's what Hera said as well," Bo-Katan confirmed. "And when I commed Ketsu, she practically gushed about how happy she was to be chosen. I'm looking forward to meeting her for longer than a few seconds when she gets here."

"You'll like her," Sabine promised. She paused for a moment. "Anyway. I was just comming to let you know that I'll be taking off for Krownest within the hour. I'll keep in touch about the Lothal plans."

The redheaded woman nodded once in acknowledgement. "That's fine. I'll send Fenn your way tomorrow so you can work out the details of his takeover of the stronghold. Also, please give your father my regards and tell him it was nice to see him, if ever so briefly, after all this time. I'm afraid I missed his departure last night."

"Will do," Sabine told her very distant cousin that she hadn't seen in person since she was very little. She barely remembered the days of chaos following the end of the Clone Wars, but her family had somehow survived through it, thanks in part to Bo-Katan. Sabine was happy to say that she liked the older woman quite a lot, and that she lived up to the stories her mother used to tell about her and their days together with Death Watch. (Before it went corrupt to the extreme.) "Thank you, Bo," she said sincerely. "For everything."

"You're welcome, little cousin. I am happy that you have become someone that I am proud to call family."

Sabine felt a flush of warmth heat her face at the praise that she so rarely received from her blood relatives. She cleared her throat to cover up her discomfort. "Yes. Well. Despite opinions to the contrary, I have always been proud of my heritage. Things just got a little messed up for while."

The new Mand'alor closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "Life does have a habit of doing that to us, doesn't it?"

Unspoken was the disaster that her older sister had made of the Mandalorian way of life with a nudge or two of assistance from the Emperor along the way, but they both knew that's what Bo-Katan was referring to.

"It does," Sabine said quietly. "I'm sure you have more important things to do than chat with me, so I'll let you go. I've kept my clan waiting long enough, as well."

Bo-Katan smiled slightly at the truth of that. "Talk to you soon."

"Bye."

Sabine slumped in the pilot's chair for a moment, taking another sip of her not really hot anymore hot chocolate, before going back to the comm and entering another frequency.

She let the comm unit chime for a full minute before she gave up on contacting Hera via the Ghost. She then tried Hera's personal comm, but that one rang endlessly as well. Giving up on reaching Hera, but wanting to make sure that Kanan and Ketsu had arrived at Yavin 4 all right, Sabine commed Chopper.

He, of course, answered. (Technically, he didn't have a choice, but he had been known to hang up immediately on people if he was in a mood.)

"Colourful One!" he beeped with enthusiasm.

"Hey, Chop. You at the new base yet?"

"Hours ago."

"Hera there?"

"Locked in the Ghost with the Meatbag Jedi." His tone was clearly exasperated.

Sabine laughed. "What about Zeb?"

"Purple Meatbag is playing sabacc with the Rex Clone, the Wedged Pilot, and the Kallused Imp."

"Gotcha." Even after all these years, Chopper's names for people still cracked her up. "Well, when you see Hera again, tell her to comm me."

"Okay."

Then he hung up on her.

Sabine smiled as she set the next frequency. It was good to hear that Hera was actually taking time for herself for once. Her surrogate parents deserved some alone time every once in a while.

"Hey, Kets," Sabine said brightly when the caf skinned hologram girl appeared, looking vaguely purple in the blue overtone.

"Hey, Sabs!" Ketsu said, more bubbly looking than Sabine had ever seen her.

"I hear congratulations are in order."

Ketsu's deep purple eyes widened even further. "Yes! You heard? Of course you heard. Oh my stars, this is like, my dream job. You have no idea. I'll be working for the Mand'alor! The Mand'alor! Can you believe it?"

Sabine chuckled at Ketsu's very uncharacteristic enthusiasm, finding it catching. "Of course I can. You deserve a good break in life." She gave her new sister a tooka grin. "And being stationed on the same planet as a certain, ambitious, Captain Hark doesn't have anything to do with your current state of girly nonsense, would it?"

Ketsu visibly settled herself down and put on a blasé air. "Jett? Nah. He's just a fling."

Sabine barely refrained from rolling her eyes at that blatant untruth. The fact that Ketsu had used his first name was a dead giveaway. Not to mention the way her eyes lit up despite the mask of indifference the rest of her face was wearing when she said it.

"Suuuure," Sabine said in teasing disbelief. "Has he commed you yet?"

Ketsu's mask immediately fell and she donned a very similar look to the one Bo-Katan had been wearing not too long ago of dreamy anticipation. "I actually just finished talking to him. Jett is now the Count of Clan Saxon."

Sabine was actually a little surprised that he'd been able to pull that off, but she hid it for Ketsu's sake. "Good for him. I bet he's quite proud of himself."

"Oh, he is. As he expected, there was a power vacuum left in the Saxon clan with the death of the last adult pure blood Saxon. Warriors were still in the process of duelling for the position when Jett arrived at the Saxon stronghold."

"And I bet he just waltzed in there like he owned the place, handily took care of the few challengers remaining, and won the title."

Ketsu looked rather proud of a man she'd only spent maybe twenty whole minutes with in person when she said, "Exactly."

Sabine gave her sister a considering look. "You know, Hark is going to be a hot commodity now. If you actually want that man for yourself, you're going to have to commit to him."

Ketsu opened her mouth to retort, but no sound came out as she seriously considered that. She blinked a couple times and her jaw snapped shut, then she gave Sabine a glare for making her even think of going for a committed relationship. "I'll play things by ear for now, thank you very much. He and I have plans to meet in Sundari tonight for a late dinner and I promised to paint his armour for him. We'll see where it goes from there."

Sabine smirked. "Oh, I know exactly where it's going to go. The question is, will it go again when you wake up in the morning? And the next day after that. And the next day after that..."

Ketsu hmmpphed and crossed her arms over her chest, giving Sabine another mock glare. "Enough about me. I see that you're still wearing Jedi Junior's jacket and your hair is looking rather... creative."

Sabine gasped and patted her head, just now noticing that it was a tangled disaster zone. How had she missed that when she was standing in front of the mirror and brushing her teeth? Perhaps because she was using Ezra's toothbrush and wondering why she didn't feel even remotely squeamy or guilty about it? Or maybe because she'd been remembering how incredible it felt to have him pound into her on that very same counter top?

Suffice it to say that Sabine blushed red enough to be seen via hologram.

"Oooooo. Tell me the dets," Ketsu begged. "That look has got to be worthy of something good."

Sabine ran her fingers through her hair ineffectually, trying to remove the tangles without pulling it out of her scalp, even as she shrugged, pretending nonchalance. "Well, let's just say I'm never going to get bored in the bedroom." Or the refresher. Or the cockpit. Or the galley. Or the...

Ketsu interrupted her musings. "Oh, come on! You can do better than that. I tell you about my encounters."

Sabine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you do. Too much sometimes." She sighed exaggeratedly as she gave up on her hair and Ketsu continued her begging look. "Fine. It's amazing. He's amazing. I feel like I've been missing out on something that should have been mine for years. I swear I've come about twenty times in the last planetary cycle."

"You're kidding." Ketsu's jaw was approaching the floor.

"Nah unhh. It's the honest truth. My Jedi has the stamina of ten men and he's considerate of my needs to the point of obsessive. If I didn't know he'd just had his eighteenth birthday and that I was his first, I'd swear he had decades of experience in pleasuring women."

Ketsu looked contemplative as she said, "Perhaps I should go find myself a Jedi. I've never come more than twice from a night of sex with a partner."

"There was a time when I would have thought you were doing well," Sabine said with a commiserating smile. "But now, I kind of feel sorry for you. I wish there were more Jedi wandering around so you could find one."

Ketsu huffed a sigh. "I know, right? Maybe I should try and corral a couple of men at once. That might make up the difference."

Sabine's eyebrows shot up. "Would you really?"

Ketsu shrugged. "At this point? Who knows? I'm feeling kind of jealous over here."

"Well, you asked for the details. It's your own fault," Sabine teased gently.

"I know." Ketsu pouted for a moment before she shook herself out of it. "Whatcha doin' now?'

Sabine sipped her lukewarm hot chocolate. "Now I'm comming my father to inform him that I'm about to leave for Krownest. I have long overdue ceremonies to attend tonight. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come, since you're now part of my clan, but I wouldn't want to interfere with your date, so don't worry about it."

"I'll cancel."

"No you won't," Sabine insisted. "What if Hark is 'The One' and you lose him to some other girl who wants a piece of scrumptious Count booty? I won't do that to you."

Ketsu shook her head in amazement. "I don't deserve you."

Sabine smirked. "I know. But you're stuck with me anyway... Sister."

"Don't you dare make me cry," Ketsu said even as she swiped at an eye. "I'm a badass Mandalorian, damn it."

"Yes, you are," Sabine laughed. "Now, it's been nice talking, but I really do have to go. Comm me tomorrow and let me know how it went with Captain Fine Ass."

"Sure," Ketsu said on a smile. "Say hi to Super Lover for me."

"Oh no. You are not calling him that!" Sabine said with wide eyes. "I'll never hear the end of it if he hears you say that!"

Ketsu smiled diabolically. "I'll think about it." And then she ended the call.

Sabine growled at the holo device.

She chugged the rest of her hot chocolate before it was stone cold and then entered the last frequency.

The hologram that appeared was of one of Sabine's female cousins. (Half the remaining clan members were related to Sabine in some fashion or other and most of them were on the big and tall side like Tristan and Ursa's father had been, with similar features as well. The other half were their significant others and a few adoptees to the clan.)

"Hi, Junie," Sabine said to the tall girl who was Shubin's daughter. "They got you on comm duty again, hunh?"

The teenager rolled her Wren brown eyes. "Yeah. Boring as ever. At least it gives me a good reason to actually do my homework. You want someone specific?"

"My father please, if he's available."

"I'm pretty sure he's in the great hall. Just give me a sec and I'll find someone to go get him."

Sabine said, "Thanks," even as the girl disappeared.

Thirty seconds later, the fifteen year old was back and looking at Sabine expectantly. "Sooooo? What's it like being married?"

Sabine couldn't help but smile a little dopily. "It's not terrible."

The black haired girl looked at Sabine knowingly, twirling a long lock around a finger. "That good, hunh?"

Sabine just nodded, smirking.

"I have got to get off this frozen rock and find myself a boyfriend," Junie said determinedly.

Sabine laughed. "If things go according to plan, that might happen sooner than you think. I'm planning on moving the Clan."

Junie's eyes widened comically. "Ooooo. Do tell! How have I missed this?"

Sabine's father appeared in the hologram and put a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder while looking at Sabine's image. "Because we were trying to keep it quiet so you could make a formal announcement tonight."

Sabine winced. "I guess I should have thought of that. Junie can keep a secret for a few hours though, can't you, Junie?"

The girl nodded quickly. "I can. I can. I swear."

Alrich smiled at her indulgently. "That's good. Can you give me a minute alone with Sabine? You could go help with the decorating of the hall for a bit."

"Sure," Junie said as she disappeared.

"You're decorating?" Sabine said in surprise.

"Of course. It's not every day my daughter becomes a Countess and gets married."

Sabine felt her eyes sting a little at how proudly her father was looking at her. "That wasn't necessary, but thank you, Father."

"You're welcome," he said with a regal incline of his head. "I take it you're finally ready to leave Mandalore?"

"You take it correctly. I'll be starting the ship as soon as I say goodbye to you."

"Then I'll keep this brief so I see you all the sooner," Alrich said softly. "Everything is nearly ready for the memorial service and the coronation ceremony. Everyone knows that you're the new Countess, but only a select few know about your plans for the Clan. From what I've been able to overhear, I haven't caught any mutters about challenging you tonight, so hopefully everything goes smoothly."

"That will make Ezra happy," Sabine said with a smile. "He was worried about the challenge part."

"So was I," Alrich admitted. "You know I could never stand to see you hurt."

"I remember," she said with a smile and a shake of her head. "Mother was all; 'Train harder. Pain is nothing.' And you were all; 'Just let the girl paint already, Ursa. Hasn't she been thrown around enough for one day?' I don't know how you two ever got along."

Alrich smiled a secret smile. "Oh, we made it work, trust me."

Sabine rolled her eyes slightly. "I don't need to. I was there. I saw enough displays of affection to scar me for life."

Alrich chuckled quietly as his gaze turned introspective. "Those were good years." He sighed and then focused on Sabine again. "I don't think there's anything else pressing to tell you, so I'll let you go. You'll be here in about an hour?"

She nodded. "I will. See you soon, Father."

"See you soon, Daughter."

Sabine turned off the holo comm and then started flipping switches to warm up the engines. Two minutes later, she had the Gauntlet in the air.

* * *

Ezra woke up when the ship did.

He rolled onto his back and patted the empty space beside for him Sabine, even though he logically knew she was not likely to be there if the engines were making deep bass rumbles. He turned his head and opened his eyes to confirm what the rest of his senses were already telling him.

No Sabine.

Ezra sighed.

Despite feeling like he'd gone through about two days straight of combat training, he still had stirrings of arousal just from the mere thought of waking his wife up and making love to her all over again.

Rolling off the bed, he shuffled over to the refresher stark naked to empty his bladder. On the way, he told Mini Ezra to get a grip on reality as the appendage was all but raw from overuse. He couldn't even begin to imagine how Sabine was feeling.

His stay in the refresher ended up being another minute longer as he also noticed that his teeth were growing fuzz. His brow wrinkled in disgust as he tried to remember the last time he'd brushed them and came up with something like a day and a half ago. Those same eyebrows rose in surprise to find his toothbrush damp, but then a proud grin took over. If his cyar'ika was comfortable enough to use his toothbrush, then he was definitely doing something right.

Feeling much better from his ablutions, he stumbled his way back to the bed and fell on it as the ship launched into hyperspace with a familiar jerk.

Apparently they were leaving Mandalore.

Ezra was all right with that. He wasn't so sure he was all right with where they were going, though. He really didn't like the idea of Sabine potentially being challenged for her position as head of the clan. If he could interfere on her behalf, it would be different, but the last duel he'd watched her fight with Gar Saxon had nearly left him expired on the ground because he'd forgotten to breathe so often.

Ezra really didn't want to go through all of that again.

Putting that aside for the moment, Ezra leaned off the bed and snatched up the covers, then snuggled under them to warm himself back up.

He'd just started to drift back into sleep when a small female form slid under the covers as well, just as naked as he was. She wrapped her limbs around him, kissed his jaw, and then rested her head on his chest.

Ezra squinted at her with a look of love, kissed the top of her head, wrapped his own limbs around her in return, and then promptly fell into dreamland.

He missed the, "My Super Lover," she whispered, just before she fell asleep as well.

But that was okay, because she was bound to say it again a hundred more times before the month was over.

* * *

Sabine's internal alarm clock prodded her back out of bed forty-five minutes later.

But not before she took a minute to just savour the feelings of warmth, love, safety, and comfort her position wrapped up in Ezra's arms gave her. A couple of days ago, she would never have called herself a snuggler, but now she very nearly craved it. The more time she spent being held by her new husband, the more time she wanted to dedicate to having him hold her even more.

It was seriously messing with her mental badass female image.

She was going to have to learn to control herself in public situations, at least. Her parents had managed, and she knew they'd loved each other passionately when she was little. Kanan and Hera were also pretty good at not leaping on each other every five seconds, so she and Ezra could restrain themselves too.

Hopefully.

Gah.

Just slap a skimpy dress and some makeup on her, because she was officially turning into a girly girl.

Sabine mentally rolled her eyes at her inner dialogue, snorting softly.

"It's not that bad," Ezra said with more than a hint of laughter in his voice, making her move her head so she could look up at him. Her eyes narrowed at the satisfied look he was wearing that would do a tooka proud. She hadn't realized he was awake too. Had he been watching her sleep? Or had he only woken up when she stirred slightly?

"Stop reading my mind," she said half heartedly.

"Stop broadcasting so loudly, then,"' he retorted, still grinning.

"This bond thing might get annoying," she pointed out, still half heartedly. (At least some of her was secretly pleased that Ezra was that connected to her.)

"I'd be worried if you actually meant that," he said, his fingers now trailing up her bare back and then back down, getting dangerously close to the crack of her ass before teasing their way up again.

Sabine was tingling in moments. And her core was clenching in anticipation.

She yanked herself out of his arms and onto the floor in an ungraceful move, standing beside the bed and taking deep breaths as she forced her wayward body under control before she jumped right back on top of him and said to hell with being a responsible adult.

Ezra propped himself up on his elbows and gave her a puzzled and hurt look, even as he was unobtrusively gawking at her in all her naked glory. Force, he'd married the hottest girl in the galaxy, no question about it. Despite her short stature, she had lean curves that made her legs look endlessly long. Her rounded hips led up to a narrow waist that he'd found out firsthand he could wrap his hands around and have his fingers just touch. Her torso expanded up from there enough that her wonderfully pert and pebbled breasts didn't look out of place on her form. And don't get him started on her elegant neck. He'd spent hours kissing and sucking and nibbling on it, much to her enjoyment. Her exquisitely sculpted facial features were dominated by her beautiful slanted amber eyes and topped off by a wild cream and purple mess on top of her head. He loved that it was him that had made her hair that hopelessly out of order for the first time that he knew of. "What did I do?"

She took one more deep breath through her nose and gave him an accusing look. "What did you do? I'll tell you what you did. You've loved me so well that all I want to do is stay in bed with you for the rest of my life. That's what you did."

Ezra's smirk slowly returned and he settled back on the bed, linking his fingers behind his head and feeling quite proud of himself. "That's all right then. You'll never catch me saying no to that."

Sabine couldn't help but drink in the sight of the emphasized muscles in his arms and the way his lean chest muscles stretched out, highlighting his six pack in the most delicious way. The blankets still covered him from the hips down, but there was a big enough tent in the vicinity of his groin to indicate that he was just as ready for round number… whatever it was as she was. She'd actually lost count. And that was saying something.

Ezra had officially fried her brain.

Sabine pulled the pillow out from under his head and smacked him with it. He barely winced, and she was sure he was holding back laughter. He didn't even move his hands. "I can't, you nerfherder!" she cried as she threw the pillow at his chest. It bounced off and he grabbed it and put it back where it belonged while Sabine fumed and paced a couple times beside the bed. "I have to be a Countess in ten minutes! I have to be RESPONSIBLE! And, stars, I don't want to!"

What had started out as a joking rebuttal somehow turned into a near shout as the thing that had been bothering her raised its ugly head and took over. She'd been avoiding the doubt that had been simmering in the back of her mind ever since the full reality of what it meant that both her mother and brother were dead. And now she was yelling at Ezra for something that wasn't his fault.

Sabine very nearly burst into tears all over again.

Ezra suddenly felt like an insensitive, selfish, bastard. Sabine's whole world had been tossed upside down just two days ago and he'd basically just been basking in the perks of having her rely on him for once and magically fall in love with him so quickly.

He sat up quickly and swung his legs off the bed, then pulled her forward into the space between them and wrapped an arm around her waist. They were very nearly eye level, she only a fraction taller than his seated position. His other hand let go of her waist and tucked under her chin to make her look at him. The liquid swimming in her eyes made his chest hurt.

"Cyar'ika," he said softly, sympathetically. "Sabine. They can't make you be the Countess if you don't want to be. I don't care either way. I'll support whatever you want to do. We can leave it all behind and find our own little nook in the galaxy to raise kids and pet tookas, or we can go back to the Rebellion and follow orders like good soldiers, or we can go to Krownest and you can take control of your Clan and be the best Countess they ever had. It's all up to you. You know I'll follow you anywhere."

Now Sabine really was crying, further descending into the realm of girly girl. But she didn't care, because he was just so sweet and perfect and HERS.

Her forehead found his as she closed her eyes and let the slow tears trickle down her cheeks. Her hands grasped the back of his neck almost desperately. "I don't know what to do, Ez," she whispered. "I only have a couple months of training for this that I didn't even really want. Tristan is the one that Mother spent years grooming to replace her until I went back. I hadn't worked up the courage yet to tell her that I was going to step down as Heir. Tristan deserved it more than I ever did. And he wanted it. He was good at it. People liked him. Respected him. Trusted him. He was supposed to be the next Count. Not me. Never me. Haar'chak, Ezra. This is all just so WRONG. So very very wrong." She paused as she soaked in the soothing circles his hand was making on her back and opened her eyes to see his blue ones looking at her with complete understanding and sympathy. She hiccupped slightly on a choked back sob. "I wish I could turn back time. Save them. Stop myself from inventing the Duchess in the first place. Something."

Ezra ran a gentle hand over her tangled hair, tucking the longer side behind her ear. "I wish we could turn back time, too. But we can't, so we'll just have to brazen our way through it, like we always do. I'll be by your side the whole time, and I know your Father will be too. And Kanan and Hera will support us in whatever decision we make, I know it. You're not alone, Sabine. You'll never be alone again, I promise." He kissed her softly, eyes never leaving hers.

Sabine clutched him tighter even as a small fraction of the weight of responsibility lifted from her shoulders. She kissed him back harder for a few seconds before returning her forehead to his. "Force, I love you. I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner."

Ezra's mouth quirked up on one side. "I should say that it's okay, but I'd be lying. I've loved you forever, and waiting for you to figure it out has been a slow version of torture. Welcome torture, but torture nonetheless."

Sabine laughed at his feigned petulant tone. "Poor baby. It must have been awful having me across the hallway from you all those years, wandering around the ship in my pajamas, sometimes ignoring your puppy eyes that all but begged me to spend time with you."

Ezra's grin widened because he'd managed to lift her mood. He used his thumbs to wipe the tear tracks off her soft cheeks. "It was awful. But again, worth it. I'd rather be near you than away from you. Rather see your silk pajamas that left little to the imagination cause… wow." He pointedly looked her up and down as he said it, making her giggle. "I basked in whatever time you chose to grace me with your company."

Sabine returned his grin. "You are hopeless, you know that?" Ezra nodded, smirking. content with his status as hopelessly in love. She wrinkled her nose at him before admitting, "And off the charts in the sweet department." Her fingers took to rubbing over the much too short spikes of his hair. At least it was soft. She closed the tiny space between them and gave him a properly loving kiss before pulling back again. "I'm glad you're mine."

"I'm glad you're mine, too," he replied, feeling his heart swell with happiness. He closed the space between their mouths again and gave her a long and lingering kiss that didn't end until they felt the ship drop out of hyperspace with a faint chime from the far away cockpit.

They sighed in unison as Sabine pulled away from Ezra entirely after one more quick kiss. "Back to real life." She finally felt accepting of it, thanks to Ezra. That little whimper in the back of her mind was gone. Hopefully for good. She could do this. She could be a Countess.

She turned away and picked up her undershorts before looking back up at him over her shoulder. He hadn't budged yet. She smirked as she noticed the sort of glazed look in his eyes that indicated his desire for her was back in full force. She made a production of sliding into her skin tight purple undershorts even as she laughingly said, "But your idea of raising kids and pet tookas is very tempting."

Ezra tore his eyes off her now covered backside and chuckled as he reluctantly rose from the bed, his dick leading the way as he started searching for his own undershorts. "Right. Like you'd ever let me raise tookas for real. We both know you barely tolerate the lothcats."

Sabine gave his ass a very playful swat when he bent over to step into his shorts. Ezra jumped a little before grinning at her. "Who knows? You might talk me into it one day," she called back as she made for the refresher which she finally remembered still had her bra and armour piled in it after scanning the floor for said bra and not finding it in the strewn clothing. (A further example of how dazed her mind was, being the second time she'd looked for her underclothes and not found them where they actually were.)

Ezra firmly told his dick to calm down as he watched her hips sway from side to side as she walked away from him. It didn't really work, but who could blame it?

His wife was the sexiest female ever.

Not even the foolproof memory of Darth Vader was going to convince his libido that another round or ten of lovemaking wasn't a really good idea.

Ezra had known that having sex with a bonded mate would be great based on vague memories of his parents' loving relationship and the occasional accidental glimpse into Kanan's mind when someone's shields faltered, but he'd underestimated just how amazing it really was. It was like mental and physical paradise. He could feel everything she was feeling, hear most of her thoughts, and see how much she was enjoying his touch. All while his own nerve endings were going haywire with pleasure as she touched him back.

And to top it all off, sex was fun. At least, with Sabine it was. He could imagine it would feel more like a chore if done with someone he didn't love, no matter how beautiful they were. His whole being was already programmed to worship the ground she walked on and to do everything he could to make sure she was as happy as possible. Loving her with his body was just another extension of that. And in so many pleasurable ways. Sabine was just as adventurous and physically limber as he was. Maybe even more so. (Her gymnastic skills exceeded his by quite a lot.)

He certainly had been surprised when she included his anus in her play whenever she had her mouth and hands wrapped around his not so dangly bits. (Possibly a permanent state? He really needed to find a new mental image mood killer. Or get better at meditation. Or something.) Who knew his butthole was that sensitive? And who knew that she would want him to return the favour? He'd actually had his thumb in her ass while he'd pounded away at her pussy like a caveman from behind, her face buried in a pillow as she screamed her pleasure, and his hands leaving finger shaped bruises on her buttcheeks. (He almost felt sorry about those.)

Ezra nearly moaned as he remembered how intensely she'd clamped around him. Force, he wanted to do it all over again. Slow. Loving. Hard. Pounding. Crazy. Sweet. Mouths. Hands. Kisses. Licks. Nips. Hugs. Gasping breaths. Cries. Groans. All of it.

He was still standing beside the bed with only his shorts on when Sabine came back out of the refresher wearing only her purple underwear that complimented her hair and made her pale gold skin glow, carrying an armload of armour from boots to belts to jetpack. Her hair had been restored to its usual perfectly placed waterfall of coloured silk, making him wonder how she'd accomplished that. His hair was so short it didn't need brushing, so he didn't even have so much as a comb in there. (All his haircare paraphernalia was still in his room on the Ghost, essentially abandoned.)

Sabine dumped all but her boots on the bed. Those she let fall to the floor from her fingers. Then she tilted her head to the side slightly as she took in Ezra who was still staring at her with that sort of glazed over, worshiping look.

By the Manda, he was cute.

But she didn't have time to play with him right now. She was amazed that no one was comming from the surface yet and demanding why they were just hovering in space.

Maybe whoever was on sentry duty was being nice. (Ha.) Or maybe her father had let them know to expect her and they'd been told to let her land in peace. (More likely.) Either way, she was grateful even if it was against procedure. What if she was actually an enemy in disguise? One who'd somehow managed to commandeer or copy Ezra's rather distinctively painted ship?

(Speaking of, she really needed to talk to him about giving it a new paint job. And a proper name. Soon. Very very soon.)

"Come on, Ez," she said as she located her black and grey bodysuit on the floor and a fresh pair of pants from the closet, throwing the brown material at him. "We don't have time to dawdle any more. Get dressed." A clean beige t-shirt that matched the trim on his jacket followed, and then a rolled up ball of socks, and then his orange jacket.

Ezra did as ordered, albeit a smidgeon reluctantly. But looking at all the clean clothes in his arms gave him the inspiration needed to stop looking at Sabine, walk to the closet, dig out a fresh pair of undershorts from a drawer, and then start the dressing process all over. (It really just seemed wrong to have his shorts as the only item not clean. And, there was the strong possibility that they might be the same shorts he'd been wearing for the better part of two or three days already. Ugh.)

Sabine was undoubtedly in the same situation.

"Hey, you want to borrow some clean shorts?" he asked over his shoulder. They were roughly the same size in the thigh, waist, and ass department, although her central area was definitely nicer to look at and curved differently, but his shorts should fit her.

Sabine stopped with a single leg in her bodysuit and gawked at Ezra. "What?"

He shrugged slightly, flushing a little as he realized she probably wouldn't want to wear men's undershorts even if they were nearly identical to hers. (The placket at the front being the only real difference in the stretchy material.) "Well, it's been a couple days, and I just thought…"

Sabine laughed, shaking her head. "It's okay, babe. Thanks for the offer, and I might actually have taken you up on it if we were nowhere near my own clothes, but I have to change again at some point tonight, so I'm good."

"Oh. Okay." Ezra was nearly done dressing when he wondered, "What do you have to change for? I thought you Mandos wore your armour for everything?"

Sabine laughed again as she attached her shoulder guards. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?" She giggled again before sighing in a somewhat exaggerated fashion. "Believe it or not, I have to wear a dress for the coronation ceremony."

"A dress? A real dress?" Ezra was having a hard time picturing Sabine in a dress. As far as he knew, she'd never worn one while he'd been on the Ghost with her. The closest he'd seen was civilian clothes of slacks and a pretty blouse when she went undercover for a day into some rich corporation's office as an undersecretary. (Fulcrum never did say what that mission was for, but by all accounts, it had been successful.)

"Yes, a real dress. What other kind is there?"

Ezra shook his head, feeling kind of dazed. He put a hand to his chest as though to hold his heart in. "You know I'll probably expire if I see you in a dress, right?"

Sabine chucked a kneepad at his head, rolling her eyes. "Di'kut." It came out more affectionate than insulting and Ezra knew it, judging by the grin and the wink he sent her as he caught the pad with the Force and lobbed it back at her.

Sabine finished arming herself as Ezra slid into his jacket and zipped it up halfway, leaving his t-shirt showing. The only thing she left off was her helmet, and that was tucked under her arm. She kicked his dirty clothes into something resembling a pile inside the closet while he put his belt on, the weight of his lightsabre and blaster sitting comfortably against his thighs.

"Ready?"

"Ready." Ezra smiled at her and they walked towards the cockpit together. "How did you fix your hair, anyway?" The question had been bugging him.

Sabine smirked and pulled a small comb out of her utility belt to show him and then tucked it back in.

"Ah." Ezra frowned at her hair. "I think I liked it messy." He pouted.

She laughed and bumped her shoulder against his. "You liked what we did to make it messy. You like what it represented."

Ezra had to give her that one. "True."

She smiled at him, amber eyes gleaming with mischief. "You just wait, babe. Once your hair grows out, I have every intention of messing it up for you."

And Ezra fully intended to let her. His breath caught as an image flooded his mind: Her fingers clenching his long hair as she came around him with a shudder, her head thrown back in ecstasy with eyes closed. Her hair reached well past her shoulders, and was coloured in varying shades of teal. And her belly definitely had a bump in it.

Force, he hoped that was their future. The far future, but their future nonetheless.

Sabine studied the dopey grin that slowly crossed his face. She'd caught the hesitant half step he'd taken and the flash of inward gaze that usually indicated he'd had a vision of some sort. "What did you see?"

He stopped and pulled her into his space with an arm around her waist, kissing her thoroughly before answering. "Just a little bit of our future."

She raised a brow as she rubbed her free hand over his chest. "Will I like it?"

Ezra smirked as he let her go and walked on down the hallway. "That depends. How do you feel about being pregnant?"

Sabine's heart kind of stopped as she forgot how to walk. "What!?"

Ezra laughed as he turned around and waited for her to regain her senses and catch up to him. "Don't worry. Not anytime soon. My hair was as long as Kanan's and yours was teal and past your shoulders. We've got some time."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "That's all right, then." Not that she didn't want kids with Ezra someday, she did. But the key word was 'someday'. She wasn't even twenty yet. There was no way she was ready for that kind of responsibility on top of her duties as Countess. Not to mention their lives were kind of tumultuous and dangerous right now.

Ezra found her free hand with his and squeezed it as they walked into the cockpit. There was a moment of awkwardness as they both paused by the pilot's chair, staring at each other to see who was going to fly. She was the better pilot, but it was his ship…

"You fly."

Ezra kissed her cheek and settled in the pilot's chair.

* * *

Ten silent minutes later, broken only by Sabine's quick conversation in Mando'a with whoever guarded the winter planet of Krownest from unauthorized landings, Ezra settled his Gauntlet in the parking area behind the Wren Stronghold beside the same silver, gold, and black ship that had accompanied them to Mandalore a few days ago. He'd caught a few words, but for the most part, it was all still gibberish to him. He did get the sense that she was not so gently scolding whoever answered, based on her tone.

Ezra was amused. And turned on. (When wasn't he?) And glad she wasn't using that tone on him. (She had, many times in the past.)

Also in the area were four more Kom'rks and twenty of the smaller but similarly shaped single person Fang Fighters. There were also more fighters at outposts in strategic locations around the planet, on guard duty. The Wren's had a respectable fleet that had protected their planet for generations.

Looking at the ships, Sabine was doubting herself again.

Was moving the Clan really the right decision? Was moving to Lothal the right thing to do for the Clan?

This was their home.

Was she being selfish?

Yes, she'd promised to help save Lothal, but throwing what was left of her clan at the task could be dooming them all. There was no question she'd lose more members battling the Empire over custody of a whole planet. Sabine just couldn't stomach the idea. Not now. Not after the death of a dozen Wrens from a weapon that she had invented.

Ezra powered down his ship and then looked over at Sabine as her suddenly tormented emotions battered him. Her face was buried in her hands and she looked like she had no intention of moving from her chair anytime soon.

He was out of his chair in an instant and kneeling beside her, hands on her faintly trembling knees. "What's wrong?"

She pulled in a shuddering breath and moved her hands enough so he could see the tears glittering in her eyes. Sabine felt absolutely terrible as she said, "I think I made a mistake, Ezra."

He rubbed her thighs soothingly. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we can fix it."

She shook her head and then covered her face again, not able to look at him as she basically whispered, "I don't think I can commit to moving my Clan to Lothal and helping you win your planet back. What if I lose the rest of them in the war? I would have single handedly killed my entire clan."

Ezra hadn't even thought that was a possibility. He'd always just assumed that since they were Mandalorians, they were nearly invincible and happy to fight for whatever cause they liked. But he could see how she would be worried about something happening to them. "What if you let the clan decide? Take a vote or something?"

She thought about that one for a minute behind her hands. It wasn't the normal way of ruling the clan, but maybe it was the only way that she could live with. She was dedicated to helping Ezra just as much as she was dedicated to taking care of her people. Tearing herself apart between the two was downright painful and not something she wanted to fight with her conscience over on a regular basis.

Sabine took a deep breath and scrubbed her eyes dry with the heels of her hands. Stars, she was crying a lot lately. She hated it. She put her hands on Ezra's shoulders and smiled kind of pathetically at him, then leaned down and kissed him softly. "Thanks, Ez'ika. You're really smart sometimes."

Ezra grinned as they rose together. "Thanks. I'm taking that as a huge compliment coming from our resident genius."

Sabine's mood improved drastically at his teasing. She punched him lightly in the arm and then bent down to retrieve her helmet from the floor beside the co-pilot chair. "Just don't expect them too often, babe," she teased back. "I wouldn't want you to get a swelled head."

Ezra laughed as he followed her out of the cockpit, eyes on the sway of her hips because he just couldn't help himself. "No chance of that ever happening. Not with you keeping me humble."

Sabine snorted. Humble. Hah. That would be the day.

Ezra caught up and laced their fingers together again, smirking down at her, having caught the thought he was sure she'd sent his way on purpose.

Force, he loved her.

Even if she was PMSing in a more girly fashion than normal. Ezra was pretty sure he'd rather have a cranky Sabine than a weepy Sabine. It was easier on his heart.

* * *

_Mando'a translations:_

_Haar'chak – damn it._


	13. Fight and Recovery

**Fight and Recovery:**

_Krownest_

When Ezra and Sabine walked off the ramp of the Gauntlet, they found her father waiting for them at the base of the stairs that led into the back of the stronghold, a lean figure in silvery grey, highlighted by black and gold.

It seemed wrong to her that her mother wasn't standing at his side in a matched set; his formal wear to her armour.

As Sabine walked closer, she could see his expression of patient welcome, mixed with a hint of relief.

"Father," she said, her voice full of respect and love.

"Daughter." His tone reflected hers and he smiled warmly at her. Alrich flicked his eyes to Ezra and he bestowed upon him a similar smile. "Son."

Ezra's chest swelled a little with pride at the name, to be acknowledged as worthy of this stately man's daughter. "Sir."

"Alrich. Or Father."

"Yes, Sir."

Alrich chuckled, his slanted eyes crinkling with humour. "You'll get it one day."

"Perhaps." Ezra replied noncommittally. He wasn't so sure. The man seemed like an authority figure to him. He doubted he would ever see him as a surrogate father since Kanan already held that position. And calling him by his given name just seemed… weird.

Ezra had no idea why, considering he had no problem calling other older people by their given names. Like Rex.

Sabine squeezed Ezra's hand once before she untwined her fingers from his. Raising a brow at her father, she asked, "Is everything ready, then?"

Alrich nodded as he turned and started ascending the solid stone staircase. "It is. Everyone is gathered in the great hall and those on duty elsewhere around the planet are watching via holocam. Those members were asked specifically if they needed to be at the Challenge ceremony. None said yes."

"That's good," Sabine said, following her father, Ezra one step behind.

A door slid open at their approach after they crested the top of the stairs and walked across the vast stone deck covered in a snow blocking overhang and scattered with tables and benches for when the weather was nice enough to eat outside and enjoy the view of the mountains in the not so far distance.

Inside, staircases led up and down; up to living quarters for the members of the clan who didn't have their own houses nearby, and down to the massive training gym that featured a track, gymnastic equipment, sparring mats, a target practice area, and a pool.

On the main floor, the hallway they walked down had a vast assortment of rooms such as offices, kitchens, more sparring rooms for private practice, a library, a state of the art medical centre, and of course the Great Hall, which was their destination.

The all purpose room was made almost entirely of transparisteel and offered a phenomenal view of the frozen lake, the forest beyond it, and the encircling mountain range. There were no other buildings in sight from within the room on purpose.

At the moment, the Great Hall was filled with people and tables laden with food. And the clan had gone a bit nuts with the decorating. The two story ceiling was dripping with streamers in the clan colours. The windows were framed in greenery. Even the tables had greenery on them wrapped in silver and gold ribbons. The whole place smelled like a pine forest mixed with delicious smelling food. She'd never seen the hall this opulent before. Not even for weddings.

Sabine almost teared up again as she paused in the doorway to take it all in. "It's too much."

"Nonsense," Alrich said, stopping and giving her a one armed hug. "It looked just like this for your mother's coronation ceremony. You deserve nothing less."

"Oh." Sabine had been too young to remember that day, being only a year old when her grandfather died during a mission for Death Watch. The Clone Wars were still in full swing back then.

She took in a deep breath and squared her shoulders as the room gradually hushed once the first person spotted the newcomers to the hall. "Time to break the news," she muttered to herself, and then put on a confident smile.

Ezra and Alrich glanced at each other, exchanged hopeful smiles, and fell into step behind her as she walked up to the tiered dais.

She felt like a bug under a magnifying glass as her silent clan watched her walk up the steps, everyone standing and following so they gathered in front of the dais. Her mother's portrait that hung above it, staring out at the room, wasn't helping either, making her feel all the more guilty. Sabine came to a stop in front of the two person marble throne and turned to face the assembled. She clutched her helmet a little tighter to her side as Ezra stood on her left and her father stood on her right, both half a step further back but supporting her with their presence.

It was all she could do not to look at back at Ezra and silently beg him to take her out of here.

Why did her mother have to die?

Another deep breath. Another reminder to herself that she could do this. (To honour the memory of her mother and brother if nothing else.) And one more reminder to her limbs to hold her up or else. And then a sudden low level warning cramp in her lower belly that had absolutely nothing to do with nerves had her almost laughing.

No wonder she'd been feeling so weepy lately.

The days must have gotten away from her to forget that little monthly annoyance. Ezra was not going to be happy to have to put their honeymoon on hold for a few days starting in the morning.

Mood restored to something resembling confident (because that was the joy of hormonal mood swings), Sabine smiled tightly at her patiently waiting clan for her to say something. Her eyes caught on Junie, who'd made her way to the front of the pack of about forty people ranging in age from toddler to greying with age, and was looking up at her almost worshipfully, and Sabine felt her confidence increase.

And then Ezra touched her back with a supportive hand, and Sabine was ready.

"As you all undoubtedly know, I lost my mother and brother a few days ago in the mission to rescue my father by a weapon that I created." The crowd more or less nodded as one. Sabine made sure to look at all of them, and the hovering holocam, as she continued. "I'm sure you've also heard that I destroyed that weapon and that I assisted the new Mand'alor, Bo-Katan Kryze, in removing the rest of the Imperial presence from Mandalore." More nodding, and a few smiles of encouragement.

"What you probably don't know is that I had no intention of ever becoming the Countess of our clan. I was going to step down so that Tristan could lead when Mother was ready to retire." She pushed on, ignoring the quiet gasps from the crowd and from her father. "I had a life that I loved with my other family, fighting with the Rebellion. I had a purpose that suited me perfectly. I had a place where I belonged." Ezra's hand stroked her back slightly in approval even as the crowd shifted restlessly.

Sabine so badly wanted to turn her head and smile at him in gratitude, but she couldn't take her eyes off the clan. Not now.

"I also had a soul mate right under my nose that I didn't know I had until the events of a few days ago opened my eyes." This brought a few chuckles. Sabine held her left hand out to the side, indicating for Ezra to take it and step forward. As he did so, she said, "You also have undoubtedly heard that Ezra won a challenge for me and we're now married. Most happily, I might add." Louder chuckles and a few grins sent Ezra's way was the response to that.

Ezra smirked, not understanding the vast majority of what Sabine was saying in Mando'a, but he caught the gist of the meaning from the thoughts she was broadcasting and the reactions of the crowd. He laced his fingers with Sabine's and kissed the back of her gloved hand, just to show the room that he was quite happy to prove his claim on her.

"Save it for later, lover boy!" someone yelled in Basic from the middle of the crowd, much to everyone's amusement.

"Don't need to!" Ezra called back smugly. "I have nothing left to prove to my cyar'ika." He winked at Sabine. The crowd roared with laughter.

Sabine actually blushed a little. She fought past that and took control of the situation again. "I know Mother would have disapproved of my marriage to Ezra because he is a Jedi and she was firmly raised to hate them, just like most of us were, including myself. But I learned to see beyond the old prejudices and so can you. Ezra is my choice and I will not give him up for anything. Not even you." Her clan was silent again, the majority of them with nearly identical brown eyes studying her as they tried to figure out where she was going with this. "He's loyal and honourable and dependable and fights with everything he has for what he believes in. In short, he's very much like the best of what a Mandalorian should be, so I don't ever want to hear that I married Jedi scum or anything like that because I will very much hurt the one who said it." She gave the crowd her mother's patented glare just to emphasize her point.

"I approve the match, as well," Alrich added, earning a grateful glance from Sabine.

"I've seen firsthand that Sabine's Jedi is a worthy match for her," Shubin added. "I also support her choice."

"Thank you, Cousin." Sabine smiled at the older man warmly. She raised a brow at the crowd. "Does anyone have anything negative to say about my choice of mate?"

The people glanced at each other. One or two may have thought about speaking against Ezra, but they changed their minds to find that they were vastly outnumbered. Most shook their heads at Sabine.

"Good." She gave her clan a beaming smile. "Now here's the conundrum I find myself in. Ezra's world is currently occupied by the Empire and they are striping it bare to make weapons and TIE fighters in the factories of Lothal. I promised him long ago that we would free his world. Without thinking it through well enough, I came up with a plan that would win Ezra's world back. It involves the help of the Rebellion and the Mand'alor, which is fine. But it also involves moving Clan Wren to Lothal permanently so that we can protect the planet once we expel the Empire from it. The Protectors would take over guarding Krownest and the diamond mines. Some of you could stay behind and join them if you wished."

There was an immediate rumble from the crowd, as Sabine expected. She let go of Ezra's hand to raise hers, gaining their attention back. "Hear me out, please." They quieted, but she could see the frowns on many of their faces. "Technically, I am currently your Countess by right of blood, but it's not a done deal yet. I have every intention of keeping my word to my husband and doing whatever is necessary to help him in his mission. If that means that I step down now and leave you to fight amongst yourselves for a new leader, then that's what I'll do, but that's not what I want to happen. I want us to work together to fight for a worthy cause. I want to lead you, even though it took me a while to talk myself into accepting that fact. I want to be a worthy Countess for you."

She stopped, taking another deep breath. "So this is what I've decided we are going to start with. We are going to vote…"

"What!?"

She raised a disapproving brow at the teenage male who'd interrupted her. He had the grace to look ashamed. Sabine continued. "We are going to vote on whether or not you are willing to move the Clan to a dangerous location and follow my orders, keeping in mind that some of you may stay here permanently and that all the children and at least one parent will also stay here until it is safe to move to them to Lothal. And then, if the majority vote yes, we will continue with the proceedings as normal wherein any of you may challenge me for the right to lead the clan. If the majority vote no, then I'll step down right now. Understood?"

They nodded.

Alrich almost asked her if she was sure about this, but then changed his mind when he saw the determined tilt of her jaw and remembered that questioning a Countess' decisions was a bad idea. (Ursa did have him well trained, after all.)

Sabine gazed at her clan and the hovering holobot, giving them a moment to process their options before saying, "If you're voting yes, please raise your hand." And then she held her breath as one hand (Shubin's) and then another (Junie's) and then another and another and so on went up, until all but three hands were raised. (She wasn't counting the children too young to understand what was going on.)

She exhaled in relief, not realizing she'd been holding her breath. Beside her, Ezra and Alrich did the same. She smiled a little weakly at her clan. "Thank you for your faith in me. I believe that in the long run, you'll like our new home. It's warm, for one thing."

That generated a return of the chuckles.

Sabine smiled wider. "Now for the most interesting part. Do any of you wish to challenge for the right to lead the Clan?" She gave the two men and one woman who hadn't raised their hands a particularly pointed look. The men shook their heads and shifted back a fraction after thinking it through. (Sabine smirked internally, because they were both people that she'd beaten in sparring sessions over the last month.)

The woman, though, wife to the blond warrior who'd backed down, stepped forward. "I do. I challenge you, Sabine Wren, for leadership of Clan Wren."

Sabine practically felt Ezra and her father tense beside her. And the group kind of gasped again.

Sabine inclined her head at the brown haired woman who was also a distant cousin, being her grandfather's youngest sister's daughter. In all honesty, she had almost as much a claim on the title as Sabine did. "As you wish, Loral Wren. Shall we go downstairs and get this over with?"

"Yes, but I think outside would be more appropriate." Loral swept out of the Great Hall with her head held high and Sabine had no choice but to follow the older woman.

One of them might be about to die.

* * *

Ezra was on the verge of freaking out as he pieced together what was happening.

There was a mad dash of warriors for the balcony overlooking the lake, while a few followed Sabine and that other woman out of the hall, including the blond male Ezra sensed was attached to the challenging female. Ezra and Sabine's father were at the front of that group.

"This is what I think it is, isn't it?" Ezra asked Alrich quietly as he kept his eyes firmly fixed to Sabine's back. Her emotions were calming with every step as she found the well trained and confident warrior within herself once more.

"It is." Alrich sounded as unhappy about it as Ezra felt.

They stepped outside onto the front deck, also made of stone, and walked most of the way down the stairs. Sabine and her challenger were eyeballing each other at the base of the steps.

Ezra's stomach churned unpleasantly and he had to clench his fists to keep himself from stepping between them and giving the older woman a piece of his mind. (It would involve a lot of swearing and name calling.)

Alrich must have noticed Ezra's agitated state because he put a hand on Ezra's arm. "We can't interfere," he murmured quietly so only Ezra could hear.

"I know." The words were ground out through Ezra's clenched teeth.

He fisted his hands tighter as all his Jedi calm went flying out the airlock.

* * *

Sabine stared her older and bigger cousin in the eyes steadily. "How do you want to do this?" Because, as the Challenger, Loral had the choice of weapons, location, and how much armour they wore.

Loral narrowed her eyes at Sabine, giving her skimpy armour a sneer. "No helmets or jetpacks. No blasters or explosives. Blades and your own limbs only."

"Fine," Sabine said as she put her helmet down on the bottom step, then stripped off her belts and jetpack. Those went on the step as well. As she pulled her favourite knife out of its sheath on her utility belt, she kept an eye on the other woman who was also stripping off her belts. They both had the same idea then; giving the other less to grab on to.

Loral was wearing full armour, much like her mother's, just heavier on the silver and black and not so much gold. (As was appropriate.) She would be better protected and harder to hurt, but Sabine would be more agile in light armour. It was a fair trade off.

Their eyes were still glued to each other as they stepped away from the stairs and further out into the packed snowy landscape between the stronghold and the frozen lake that only thawed for two months of the year. "First blood, unconscious but healable, or to the death?" Sabine asked as they stalked around each other, because it was an important thing to clarify.

In hostile takeovers, to the death was common. But Sabine had always gotten along with Loral, if not exactly friendly since there was a seventeen year age gap between them. But the fact that Loral had chosen blades indicated that there was some resentment there that she wasn't afraid to demonstrate.

Loral took almost half a minute to answer, her mind obviously working over the pros and cons of each option. Eventually, she smiled tightly at Sabine. "I think unconscious and hurting is enough to make my point. I might not like your choices, little cousin, but you're still my family."

Sabine inclined her head slightly, griping her knife in her right hand with the blade pointed towards her forearm so she could still use that fist to punch. "As you wish." She continued her deliberate circle in the snow, waiting for Loral to make the first move, and ignored the holobot that hovered nearby, recording everything so that even the clan members who were on duty elsewhere could watch.

* * *

"Not to the death," Alrich breathed in relief.

"What?" Ezra said, not talking his eyes off of his wife and her opponent. Along with the others who'd come outside, they'd moved off the stairs and were now lined up against the wall of the building. He didn't feel the cold air that seeped into his clothes.

Alrich repeated himself in Basic. "Not to the death. They're not fighting to the death."

Ezra relaxed a fraction. "But…?" Because he could sense a but in that sentence.

"But they're still going to do their best to hurt each other badly."

"Great." It was anything but great, but Ezra would take it. Cuts and bruises could be healed, after all. The stars knew that both he and Sabine had their fair share of scars from years of dangerous missions.

Now he just had to watch as his warrior goddess did her thing and try to remember to breathe every once in awhile.

* * *

After ten minutes of punching, kicking, flying elbows, and the occasional slash with a knife, the opponents got serious.

Sabine scored a hit to Loral's upper arm, slashing through the thick bodysuit and leaving a line of red on the skin.

Loral hissed in pain and lunged at Sabine, taking the smaller female down to the snow where they proceeded to roll around with fists flying, both trying to pin the other.

Loral managed to straddle Sabine with her superior weight. Sabine's head snapped back as Loral landed a lucky strike to the jaw, but she shook it off and punched back, smirking in satisfaction when the other woman's nose broke with the impact. Blood splattered everywhere but it didn't knock her out. While Loral was momentarily dazed, Sabine aimed her open palm at Loral's jaw, but she moved her head to the side at the last millisecond, making Sabine's hand skim off the side of her face.

Snarling, Loral raised her knife hand and brought it down, aiming for a stab at Sabine's right shoulder. Sabine blocked her at the last second with her right vambrace. While they were locked in a power struggle, she rotated her left wrist, triggering the hidden blade in her left vambrace.

Sabine slashed at Loral's side, drawing another line of red to the surface.

Loral looked down at her side in surprise, giving Sabine the opportunity to throw her off. Loral rolled through the snow and came up on her feet with another knife that she drew from her boot.

Sabine copied her. They circled again, eyes glaring proverbial daggers to go along with the real ones.

"You're going to regret that," Loral growled.

Sabine curled her lip in a semblance of a smile, taunting. "I don't think so. You're bleeding in three places and I'm not."

Loral flew at her, blades slashing.

Sabine blocked and dodged as needed and slashed back.

Their arms were a flurry of movement that was barely followable with the naked eye. Their feet danced in the snow. Sweat plastered their hair to their heads. And drops of red fell from Loral.

And then Loral somehow got through her defenses, sinking a knife into Sabine's side before Sabine moved away. While Sabine gasped in pain, Loral moved again, slashing Sabine's arm and drawing another line of red hot pain. Sabine barely moved in time to avoid the elbow aimed at her nose, taking it to the cheek instead. It still hurt enough as the bone fractured to send fireworks through her brain, but she kept her feet out of sheer determination.

Now they were both dripping red on the white snow.

And Sabine was bleeding faster than Loral. She could feel the liquid seeping down her side and into her leggings.

She had to end this before she grew faint from blood loss.

Sabine went on the offensive more so than before, advancing on the taller woman with narrowed eyes and a determined jaw. She was not losing. No way, no how. Not now that she'd decided that being the Countess of her Clan was something that she wanted. Something that she needed to do to honour her mother's memory.

After a minute of feinting and blocking, she landed another slash to Loral, opening up a gash just below her cheekbone. As Loral turned her head to go with the blow, Sabine spun like lightning and kicked her hard in the stomach, sending the other woman flying. Sabine pounced on her, landing with her knees on the woman's chest, forcing the air out of her lungs. Then she dropped her knives and applied pressure to the sides of Loral's neck, cutting off the supply of blood to her brain until she went limp in the snow. "I win," she growled at the unconscious woman, holding the pose for a few seconds longer than necessary as primal triumph flooded her.

Sabine picked her blades up from the red tinged and much trampled snow, wiping one on her pant leg before putting it back in her boot. The other was cleaned as well, but she kept it clutched in her hand as she pushed off Loral's body and forced herself to her feet, every ache and pain making itself known to a nearly excruciating degree. Her sock squished with the blood from her side that had run down her leg, her bodysuit meant to repel moisture, not absorb it like a lighter fabric would have.

She'd only taken two steps when Ezra was by her side, wrapping an arm around her to help hold her up. Loral's husband went flying past, only pausing to give Sabine a brief nod of respect before he was kneeling in the snow and gathering his wife up in his arms to take to the medical centre.

Sabine just barely registered that there was a roar of cheering for her from the people on the balcony before she looked up at Ezra. "Catch me," she whispered as her knees crumpled and her eyes closed against her will.

He did.

She felt herself picked up in his arms as her last hold on consciousness fled.

* * *

Sabine fluttered back to consciousness only to find herself immersed in a tank of warm and thick bacta. She closed her eyes again.

* * *

The next time she opened her eyes, she was lying on the bed in her room, naked except for a bacta bandage on her side, on her cheekbone, and another around her arm, and covered by a silk sheet and thick blanket.

Ezra was lying on his side facing her in just his t-shirt and trousers, on top of the blankets, his eyes closed and his hand clutching hers loosely.

"Hey."

Ezra's eyes snapped open and he beamed at her. "Sabine. You're awake."

Obviously. And so was he, now. But Sabine didn't bother to point that out. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours. You lost a lot of blood, but otherwise, you're not too bad off. You'll have another sexy scar on your side for me to kiss. Your arm and cheekbone should heal without any complications. The med droid says you can take those bandages off in the morning and that you need to get the one on your side replaced at the same time." Ezra leaned over her, caressing her hair off to the side, his gem blue eyes looking worried despite the confident words.

Sabine raised her good arm and caressed his jaw in return, feeling the hint of stubble that was attempting to make itself known. She smiled at him. "Wonderful. I'd hate to have bandages mar the look of my dress."

Ezra laughed at the sarcasm that pervaded her tone. "Your father's postponed the rest of the ceremonies until lunchtime tomorrow for just that reason."

Sabine laughed before cutting herself off as her side twinged in protest. "He probably wants to paint my portrait like he did for Mother's Coronation ceremony. Bandages would not be the thing at all."

Ezra smiled at her dry tone, leaning over and kissing her lightly on the mouth. "That would be the end of the world, wouldn't it?"

"For an artist of my father's caliber, yes," Sabine said as she pushed the blankets aside and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Ezra sprang up and off the end of the bed in an instant to help her, a frown of concern lining his brow.

"To the refresher. Aside from needing the loo, I have to take care of some girl things."

Ezra's eyes opened wider as a look of comprehension crossed his face. He stayed by her side and let her lean on his arm as she walked carefully to the attached refresher in her suite. "Ah. I was waiting for that."

Sabine paused, looking up at him in surprise. "You were?"

Ezra smirked and blushed crimson at the same time, an interesting look, to say the least. "I happen to keep track of your moody days in the interest of self preservation. All us guys on the Ghost did. Knowing that you're on regulators makes so much sense now, because you were moody every thirty days like clockwork."

Sabine opened her mouth but no sound came out. She was honestly speechless. And kind of embarrassed. She closed her mouth with a snap and sniffed before walking on via her own steam. "Right. Well, since you know anyway, I might as well tell you now there won't be any sex for three days."

Ezra snorted as he followed her, leaning on the doorway with casually crossed arms. He drank in the sight of her naked form as she stopped in front of the mirror and poked at the bandage on her cheek before running a brush through her hair to make it fall the way she wanted it, managing to almost cover that side of her face. "I was expecting that as well. But… how do you feel about shower sex? There's no mess and orgasms are supposed to be good for easing cramps."

Sabine gawked at him, meeting his twinkling eyes via the mirror. "Who are you and what have you done with the immature boy I first met?"

Ezra shrugged and grinned. "I grew up."

Sabine felt a smile grow on her face as she turned around and walked back to him. She pulled him down for a brief but thorough kiss by fisting the front of his shirt. When she pulled away, she said, "Yes, you did."

And then she closed the door in his face.

"Was that a yes, then?" Ezra yelled hopefully through the door that had almost taken off his nose as it slid by.

Sabine just laughed. Once. She'd tell him her answer later when her side didn't hurt so much.

He put his hands against the pale blue surface and strained to hear an answer, but all he heard was a single choked off laugh. Resting his forehead against the door, he closed his eyes and snuck into her feelings via their bond, finding her amused but not repulsed. Smirking a little at what he was going to assume was the yes he was looking for, the teenage, sort of adult, male relaxed as he was, letting his shoulders sag a little as he clung to his bond with Sabine.

Listening to the faint sounds of her doing normal things and the steady hum of her thoughts that he didn't try to catch for the sake of privacy was enough to finish grounding him into the understanding that Sabine was still alive and breathing.

Even though she hadn't been in any real danger of dying, having to watch his wife and soul mate fight for her life against a bigger clan mate was not something he ever wanted to do again.

He'd barely taken a breath during the fight. He'd almost had a heart attack when she fainted. He'd essentially paced a path into the med bay floor while he waited for the med droids to stabilize her and then plunk her into a bacta tank. And finally, those long hours of waiting for her to return to consciousness while he bathed her limp form of bacta gel, carried her towel wrapped form upstairs, and then watched her anxiously while lying beside her had definitely added a least a year to his life.

Her father hadn't been much better off, but at least he'd allowed Ezra to care for his daughter without too many protestations. Ezra thought it very fortunate that he'd already married Sabine so he could be there for her in such a way.

Ezra had been upset enough to catch the attention of Kanan, his worry making its way down their bond, even though they were millions of kilometres apart. Talking to his Master and Hera, his surrogate parents, had helped a lot, even if the holo call had been kind of awkward considering they were still in their pajamas (aka, they shared one set of Kanan's with him in the bottoms and her in the top). And he was propped up against the mountain of pillows that nearly overwhelmed Sabine's very big and very comfy bed while she was lying naked under the covers beside him. Not that he told them she wasn't wearing anything, but he knew, and that was enough. (By the time he'd thought about finding her a loose shirt or something to sleep in, he'd already had her tucked into the blankets and hadn't wanted to move her again, so he'd left her that way.)

Not for the first time, he wished it were possible to encase her in bubble wrap and convince her that being just an artist was more than fulfilling enough as a life's work. But he wasn't stupid enough to even suggest it, because he knew Sabine would never go for it and probably behead him for saying something so ridiculous. She was a warrior first and an artist second, and it would always be that way. Ezra figured she'd still be fighting for something or other even when they were wrinkled and grey, even if it was just for the principle of the thing.

Sighing at his own thoughts, a woeful smile grew on his face as his stomach put in its two credits, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything substantial since last night's supper and it was way, way, way too many hours later.

His only claim to food during that time was during a break in the bedroom activities when Sabine dragged him to the small med bay on the Gauntlet to find some bacta cream for his black eye. (Now healed thanks to her determination.) On the way back to their room, amidst much giggling since they were parading around his ship butt naked and feeling very naughty, Ezra had made a side trip into the galley and grabbed a couple of protein bars. That had led to some very fun counter sex, since a quick kiss had somehow escalated exponentially.

Now grinning stupidly, he forced the images from his mind before they caused any more excitement down south, and then pushed away from the refresher door. He padded out of Sabine's luxurious and very colourful suite of rooms in his socking feet, in search of food.

He found it downstairs, in the Great Hall, where the vast majority of the Clan were still celebrating and / or mourning in the only way they knew how; by drinking, snarking at each other, and eating the plentiful food that had been put out earlier. Ezra figured that they didn't mind having an extra day to carouse, and would welcome having a second feast tomorrow. He just hoped their food stores could take the hit.

Despite the fact that it was almost midnight, Krownest time, even the children were still up and running about. Ezra smiled at two young boys who were fencing with toy swords on the sidelines of the room, obviously too hyped on adrenaline and sweets to fall asleep anytime soon. He was almost tempted to go over and give them a few pointers, but refrained because he wanted to get back to Sabine as quickly as possible.

His entrance didn't go unnoticed, but most returned to their conversations without acknowledging his presence, which he was used to. (During his previous visits to Sabine's childhood home, the Clan had learned to accept him and Kanan being in their space, but they'd made it quite clear they didn't have to actually like the intruding Jedi.) He understood it would probably take years to break through the old prejudices and wouldn't let surly attitudes dissuade him from trying to win them over to his side, for Sabine's sake at the very least.

Two people did wave, though, and he couldn't help but notice it was the same two warriors who had come back from Mandalore with Lord Wren. Maybe they liked him now because they had seen him in action on the battlefield. If that was the case, then all he had to do was survive the coming war with the Empire and the rest of them would firmly be on his side too.

Ezra chuckled at the fanciful thought.

Then he paused for half a fraction as he contemplated Alrich Wren, surrounded by his Clan but somehow looking lonely at the same time. If Alrich was known as Lord Wren after taking a Countess' family name, did that mean that Ezra was also now known as Lord Wren?

Galloping nerfherders, that was hard to believe. He, a street rat, suddenly being promoted to a Lord? The galaxy must be spinning on its head. The bullies who tormented him as a child would choke on their own spit if they heard. Those that were alive, that is. The rest were probably doing pissed off cartwheels in their graves.

He smirked to himself and walked on towards the buffet tables.

"What's funny?" a bright female voice said to his left.

Ezra turned his head to look at the black haired teenage girl that bore a passing resemblance to Sabine and the deceased Countess Wren. He blinked at her once while he dredged her name up out of his memory, knowing he'd been introduced to her once, months ago. "Junie, right?"

She nodded quickly, smiling at him prettily. "So what's funny? And is Sabie okay?"

Ezra kept his forward momentum towards his destination, but only because his stomach was controlling his feet. "Sabie?"

The girl gave him a wide eyed look as she kept up. "What, you don't call her Sabie?"

Ezra snorted. "She'd eat me alive if I did. You must be special. And yes, she's okay. She's awake again and primping or whatever girls do after having a bacta dip."

"Ah. Yep. Primping. Showering. Whatever. Bacta always makes me feel dirty even though it's good for you. And yes, I'm special. I'm her little cousin. That comes with privileges, you know."

Ezra chuckled at her enthusiastic chatter as he picked up two plates and started filling them with whatever looked edible in the remains of a much picked over feast.

"You still haven't said what was funny."

Ezra somehow refrained from rolling his eyes at her tenacity. "It was just a stray thought of no real importance." He gave the girl a sideways look when he felt her disappointment in his answer. "Maybe you can answer me a question that I just thought of?"

"Sure. Probably."

"Am I a Lord now? Like Alrich Wren? Is he no longer a Lord? Have I usurped him?"

Junie nibbled on her bottom lip for a few seconds as she thought. "I think you're both Lords now. I'm pretty sure Uncle Alrich keeps his title. But he might be a Lord in his own right, being of the Kryze family line. Not sure, though."

"Hunh. Thanks." Ezra grabbed some silverware, napkins, and two empty cups from a stack of them at the end of a table and then juggled everything into his hands.

"Do you need help?" the girl offered, looking concerned as a full plate tipped sideways slightly.

"No. No. I got it." Ezra glared at the plate, silently commanding it to behave itself. The girl was nice and all, but he had no desire to listen to her chat with Sabine if she got in the same room as her. It might have been a little selfish of him, but he wanted his wife all to himself right now. Smiling as genuinely as he could manage, he nodded to the girl. "Thanks, though. I'm going to get this up to Sabine before she misses me."

The girl nodded knowingly. "Ah. Sabie did mention that being married was pretty nice."

Ezra paused as he was turning to leave, intrigued. "She did?"

Junie smirked. "Yep. Not in so many words maybe. In fact, she said 'Not Terrible', which I interpreted to mean abso-kriffin-fantastic in Sabine speak."

Ezra laughed. "That's pretty much accurate." Smiling widely, and feeling absurdly proud of himself, he said. "We'll see you tomorrow, all right?"

"Have a good night." And then she winked at him, the cheeky thing.

Shaking his head at her audacity, Ezra moved to escape the noisy room.

He didn't quite make it to the doorway when he was waylaid by his new father-in-law.

"Ezra."

"Sir."

"Alrich."

Ezra hid a sigh. "Alrich."

"How's my daughter?"

"She's good, Sir. Up and back to her old self."

"Good. And it's Alrich."

Ezra didn't bother repeating it again. He nodded slightly at his burdened hands. "We're just going to have some dinner and then catch up on some sleep. We'll be down in the morning, promise."

Alrich raised a single brow as he smirked ever so slightly.

Ezra flushed as realized that he may have inadvertently implied that he and Sabine had been doing things that would make them miss a significant amount of slumber time. "I mean… Um."

Alrich laughed, shaking his head. "Go on with you and feed my daughter. She can get cranky when she's hungry."

_And when she's PMSing_, Ezra added mentally. Then he tacked on a few additions that he could say aloud. "And when an op doesn't go to plan. And when she runs out of paint or explosives. And when the Empire does something to gain her ire. And when I or Zeb or Chopper get in her way. And so on and so forth." He snorted as he started walking again, turning to walk backwards so he could still move and talk to the older man. "You don't need to tell me. I know. Lived with her on a relatively small ship for four years. I know all about the cranky."

That made Alrich laugh robustly, shaking his head as he turned back into the Great Hall. "Just like her mother," floated through the air as Ezra walked the other way.

The young Jedi was still smiling when he made it up to Sabine's suite via the closer staircase. When he arrived at the closed door he frowned at it for a moment before turning sideways and carefully pushing the button to open the door with his elbow.

With a quiet 'Ha!' of success, he entered the sitting area and passed through to the bedroom. There, he found his beloved back in bed, wearing a loose fitting grey tank top that did a poor job of hiding her shapely breasts (much to his pleasure), who knew what on her bottom half due to the blankets covering it, and propped up against the mound of pillows as she frowned at a datapad.

"I brought dinner" Ezra said cheerfully to get her attention.

Sabine glanced up for a moment, gave her helpful husband a fleeting smile, and then returned to the report of the Clan assets. (Which included armaments, ships, credits, people, droids, food stores, and so on.)

Ezra set the plates on the bed beside her, glanced at the screen of her datapad, and wrinkled up his nose. "Please tell me you're not working?"

Sabine shot him a cheeky grin as she added a plate of food to her lap, then picked up a fork with her free hand. "Then I won't."

He shook his head at her as he leaned over to kiss her non bandaged cheek. "You're going to turn into Hera if you're not careful," he warned teasingly.

She scoffed. "Not likely."

"Good," he said as he wandered over to the refresher to fill up the glasses with water from the tap. "Not that there's anything wrong with Hera's incessant need to keep lists of everything and work herself and everyone around her to exhaustion on a regular basis, but one Hera in my life is enough."

Sabine huffed lightly, not chancing a real laugh yet, and forked in a bite of slightly wilted salad covered in a berry dressing that made the state of the lettuce worth it.

Ezra put a cup of water beside her on the nightstand and then went around the bed, put down his cup on a matching nightstand, and picked up his plate before joining her against the pile of colourful pillows, but on top of the dark blue blanket and cross-legged. As he started chewing, he leaned over just far enough to see her datapad without intruding in her space too much. She didn't mind him looking, since there was no need to keep secrets from him. As her husband and confidant, Sabine was sure he'd know everything there was to know about Clan affairs in no time anyway.

"What am I looking at?" he asked between shovels of food from both of their plates. (He'd put different things on each plate, knowing she wouldn't mind sharing since they'd been stealing food from each other for years. It made for a more comfy atmosphere, anyway.)

"Everything the clan owns as a collective. It's now my job to make sure we stay financially stable so I can continue to provide our warriors with the necessities."

"And by necessities you mean…?"

"Weapons, fuel, food, ships, shelter, spending money, explosives, paint. That kind of thing."

"Hunh. So none of the members are independently wealthy or even well off enough to take off on their own?"

Sabine didn't blame the incredulity in his voice. "Not the ones that live directly with the Clan, no. But if someone wanted to make their own way in the galaxy, they'd be provided with enough of a nest egg to do so. Unless they're kicked out and called dar'manda, that is." She couldn't help the bitter edge to her tone at the end.

Hearing it, Ezra scooted a fraction closer and leaned his shoulder against hers in a show of support.

Sabine gave him a grateful look before returning to her perusal of the datapad and her concentration on their shared dinner plates.

Ezra whistled when he saw the page that detailed the clan's credit balance. "Kriff, I knew your clan was rich, but that's a LOT of credits. Where do they all come from?"

Sabine grinned at his awed look. "Split that between a hundred plus people, it's not so much."

"I guess," Ezra said doubtfully. Even divided, that was still more credits per person than he'd ever seen.

"As far as where it comes from, the clan hires out as bodyguards quite frequently, and the rest is our share of the profits from the diamond mines in exchange for protecting them and the planet."

Ezra narrowed his eyes as something Bo-Katan had said about needing the income from the mines came back to him. "Wait. Clan Wren doesn't own this planet or the mines?"

"No. Clan Kryze does. They own or control a significant portion of the Mandalore systems since they have been the ruling clan in power for more than a thousand years give or take a decade here or there for wars and such. That being said, Clan Wren has lived here for the last two hundred years or so and the average person believes that my great-great-something-or-other-grandfather won a useless winter planet in a card game from the Kryze who owned it at the time."

"Sneaky. So the mines really are a well kept secret?"

"Yep."

"Who mines the diamonds? Wouldn't they talk?"

"Droids. And they're not allowed off planet without a memory wipe if for some reason we actually get rid of one."

"Wow."

"Yep."

"So… If you move the Clan to Lothal, you lose the income from your share of the mines?" Ezra didn't like the sound of that. It sounded too risky by far.

"Some of it," Sabine admitted. "But with a good chunk of the clan staying behind to join Fenn's Protectors, they'll continue to work guard duty and we'll be paid for it. That should keep us going until Lothal stabilizes again and I can find new ventures for our clan to profit on."

Ezra gave her a relieved and proud smile. "I'm sure you'll have your hand in everything in no time. If your genius brain doesn't make you credits just by existing, you can always start selling your gorgeous paintings like a normal artist instead of decorating walls for free," he teased, eyes twinkling.

Sabine shook her head at him, wanting to laugh, but wisely settling for a wide smirk. "Suck up."

He kissed her cheek again with a lightning fast dart of his head. "Yep."

They ate in companionable silence for a while after that as she scrolled down the very long list.

As Sabine came to a list of current clan members, she stopped eating abruptly with a mournful, "Oh."

Ezra paused with a forkful of creamy pasta halfway to its destination. "What?"

"I know why Loral challenged me." Her voice was small and weary and her shoulders had drooped significantly.

Feeling a sense of dread, Ezra put his fork down and waited for her to continue.

Sighing, eyes watery as she looked at Ezra, Sabine said, "I didn't know. I never saw who Mother chose to bring with her as her personal guard. But Loral's older sister was one of the ones killed by the Duchess. The same sister that raised her when their parents died when Loral was just five years old in a freak hyperdrive accident that left no survivors." Her lip trembled ever so slightly as she said, "I would have challenged me too."

"Oh, Sabine. I'm sorry," Ezra said, not really sure what else to say. He put his mostly finished plate of food down on the side table, and then tugged her plate and the datapad out of her hands and disposed of them as well. Then he shifted his position and opened his arms. Sabine was quick to accept the offer, leaning her head against his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist as he enfolded her in his warm embrace. The blankets shifted enough to give him a glimpse of grey shorts that matched her tank top, answering that question.

Sabine absorbed the comfort for a minute before working up the energy to continue the confession of her new discoveries. "The other man who didn't vote for me, Raulph Wren, his best friend was disintegrated the other day as well. They were more like brothers than anything, being the same age and growing up together," she said into Ezra's soft t-shirt, refusing to let more tears fall out of her eyes. "Looking at that list, aside from Mother and Tristan, we lost a total of ten people, all with multiple connections within the clan. I don't understand how any of them could so much as look at me, not to mention to actually vote for me to be Countess."

Ezra ran his hands up and down her back soothingly. "Because they know that you're the smartest, strongest, most stubborn, most honourable Wren there ever was. Because you proved that you belong. That's why."

Sabine looked up, blinking back tears determinedly and gave him a wan but real smile. "Flattery will get you everywhere today, Ez'ika."

He returned her smile as his head lowered to hers while he murmured, "Force, I hope so." He kissed her gently, hand coming up to cup the back of her head.

Her arms tightened around his neck as she got lost in the sweet kiss for a while until he drew back with a kiss to her forehead. "Don't stop," she begged, wanting to stay lost in the mindless comfort and passion.

"I'll be right back," he promised. "I'm just going to put the plates in the other room for the droids to take away and use the refresher."

"Okay." Sighing, Sabine leaned back on the pillows and watched her handsome husband move around the rooms. He went into the refresher for a number of minutes. Came back out freshly shaved (Probably used her razor. And if he was smart, her toothbrush too.) and pulling his t-shirt off over his head. That was tossed onto a chair along with his trousers and socks, then he climbed under the covers with her on his side of the bed in only his undershorts, looking like a leanly muscled underwear advertisement model. Sabine silently cursed her sore side and the bad timing with her cycle. But that didn't mean they couldn't make out for a while before going to sleep for the night.

From the bed, Ezra waved a hand at the light switch and the room dimmed immediately, lit only by the snow reflected moonlight that came in through the big glass doors that led to her own personal balcony. He snuggled close to his wife, pulling her into his arms again and nuzzling his long nose against her much more delicate one. "Now, where were we?" he rumbled sexily.

Sabine smiled into his minty fresh kiss before getting serious with the making out, prompting him to push her back into the pillows and let his usually hidden dominant side free a little.

She all but purred as her nails laid claim to his head and muscled back.


End file.
